Changing Fate: Their Penguindrum
by DrawBee
Summary: Taking place in 2012: Ritsu had a hidden past only a select few knew about. However, due to a sudden turn of events, it'll become unraveled as everyone's new quest begins. Even if you haven't watched MPD, you can still read it! Ritsu x Takano. WARNING: There will be fluffy YAOI moments.
1. After the End

_"Why must it be me? Why must it be us?" he thought out loud._

_As the little boy hugged his legs closer for warmth, he looked around the room where he saw all of the other kids. They were all broken, they gave up as soon they were forced on the truck to get here. They're all waiting for their turn to die in this place where unneeded kids are gathered. Looking up, the boy sees some of the kids from his shipment huddled together for warmth on the conveyor belts. They know they're going to be erased and won't even try to escape. How much longer will it take until it'll be his turn to leave this cold world?_

_"We will be crushing you into pieces now. You will all just become indistinguishable from another." The worker informed through his megaphone._

_Does he really want this?_

_Just because he's not wanted he should let himself die?_

_Wait, what?_

_His eyes widened as he realized. "I'm… not wanted?" He clutched his head in his hands and clenched his eyes shut as he painfully thought. Opening his eyes, he realized something. "Wait, that's not why I'm here. Is it?"_

_Then what was the reason?_

_Hearing the sounds of the others getting crushed throws the boy out of his thoughts. As the boy looks away from the conveyor belt and looks at the puffs of his breath floating up, he looks at the wall to see the large fans that are forever spinning and letting the light in through the gaps between their blades. The beautiful light is mocking him, the outside world is so close, yet he can never reach where the light is coming from. Tears are coming to the boy's now dim green eyes._

_That light must be warm._

_He reached out to grab it. To feel his last connection to the outside world. For some reason, that beautiful light created two silhouettes. A little girl and a grown man._

_A gentle and sweet voice mixed with a baritone but warmhearted one tickled his ears. _

_**Ritsu, we will always love you…**_

_The girl's voice happily spoke out alone._

_**Ritsu, this is your chance!**_

_His chance? For what?_

_However, he noticed the light growing dimmer. Their silhouettes were disappearing! There were probably clouds in the sky that were blocking the light. However, the boy didn't think of this possibility._

_Panicking, the boy got up and reached out to his hallucinations with tears in his eyes. "Don't go!" _

"_Father!"_

_End of the dream….._

* * *

_"Onodera... Onodera... Wake up..."_

"...Father… don't... go...please..."

Onodera groans as he opens his wet eyes to see into beautiful brown ones hovering over him and finds himself being shaken around. Wait, what? It turns out to be Takano. As Takano stops shaking him, Onodera notices that his arm is raised up, just like in the dream. He puts it back down but can't stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks.

Even though he doesn't show it, seeing the man he's in love with crying is heartbreaking. So, Takano decides to get his spirits up in one of the many ways he knows possible. He pats his head and says, "Oi, crybaby, we're almost at our stop." He tells him.

"Who's the crybaby?!" he shouts as he turns to face him.

"The one with tears in his eyes." he chuckles as he wipes away Onodera's tears with his finger.

Flustered, Onodera faces away from Takano and looks around to see that he's on a train with him and Takano as the only passengers. "Ugh, What happened?" He can feel an oncoming headache.

"You passed out after handing in Mutou sensei's manuscript." He stated matter of fact. Passing out at work on the last days of the cycle was never a big deal. "Oh, for how long?"

"About three hours."

The young editor's eyes widen. "Three hours?! Why didn't you wake me up?!"

"I did. Why didn't you wake yourself up? I had to lug your ass all the way to the station." His reply was a dirty look from his grumpy subordinate.

Even though he feels grateful for what Takano did, Onodera can't help but be annoyed by this man so much right now. His headache is getting annoying as well so he decides to ignore whatever else Takano is saying and checks his phone for messages.

As Onodera checks his phone, Takano is kept to his thoughts and wonders about why Onodera was crying. _Why did he say 'Father... don't... go...please...'? His parents… no, he told me they weren't divorced. Then why?_

As he's still thinking, Onodera looks over his phone and notices a few missed calls from an unknown number. Figuring it was probably just a wrong number situation, he puts his phone away. Onodera forgets about Takano's presence until he starts talking. "Onodera, what kind of dream did you have?" Onodera jolts in his seat.

"W-Why do you ask?" Onodera looks at him for a second but then looks down and twiddles his thumbs.

"Well, you seemed troubled when you were sleeping. Plus you were calling out to your dad." Takano was sincerely worried for Onodera.

Thinking back on it, it was pretty strange. He hadn't really thought about his past as of late. "Well, it's none of your business" Onodera promised himself to never look back on those dark days.

Next thing he knows, Onodera is pulled back by a solid warm wall. "Onodera, if you're having nightmares you can always sleep with me." Takano's deep voice reverberates through both of their bodies as he whispers into Onodera's ear. "T-Takano-san!" Even though he's trying to fight off the oncoming warmth to his face, Onodera is also too tired to make any more of an effort to get away from his lover.

_Lover?_

Being the stubborn editor he is, Onodera seals away his thoughts on the matter. _This is not love! This is definitely not love! Now way in hell is this love!_ He mentally shouted. However, he can't help but be redder in the face. Takano notices his sudden reddening but doesn't say anything.

Walking off the train and out of the station, the two make for home. Since tonight was pretty cold, duo's breath puffed out of their mouths as if they were trains. They slowly neared their apartment building as Takano made his move. Taking his hand, Takano slightly chuckles as the groggy brunet starts getting his pep back. "Takano-san!"

"Come on. It's two in the morning and nobody's out here. Besides, aren't you cold?" He smirked. "If you want, when we get home we can-"

Blushing brightly, Onodera cuts him off. "Takano-san!" He was about to yell at him but was cut off as his phone started ringing. Looking at the caller I.D., he finds that it's Mutou sensei. "Go on, answer it."

"I know, I know." Onodera is still red in the face from both Takano's suggestion and their current close proximity.

Onodera takes a deep breath before pressing the talk button. "This is Onodera speaking. Yes! We managed to get it in! I want to thank you for your hard work and hope that we will continue working together!" Even after dealing with hell week and the jarring nightmare, the young editor can still pull of the cheery tone in his voice.

Onodera's eyes widen. "What?" Takano watches as Onodera's face goes paler by the second.

"Wait!" Onodera freezes up as he hears Mutou sensei get off the phone.

_Beep... beep... beep _

Since the volume of the phone wasn't very loud, Takano couldn't hear what Mutou sensei had said. All he can tell from Onodera's expression was that something bad just happened. It seemed as if it were the end of the world. "Onodera, what did she say?"

"M-M-Mutou sensei-" He was shaking uncontrollably as he tried to speak.

"Spit it out already!" The man is losing his patience.

Onodera slapped himself before trying again. "Mutou sensei quit!"

The rest of that night was filled with so much yelling it wasn't even funny. Maybe a little…

* * *

_The next day…_

Everybody is back in the office and it's the beginning of the cycle. All the men of Emerald have freshly recovered. All the men radiated sparkles and roses. Except for one man, Onodera Ritsu. For the entire day, Onodera was trying to convince Mutou to continue with her manga. "Mutou sensei, I beg of you..."

"The number you are trying to dial..." Onodera slumps in his seat as he finds that Mutou sensei's number is no longer even in service.

It seems that after a good number of his calls, she cut him off. The story of the runaway author had become known to all of the members of the maiden department.

The baby-faced Shouta Kisa patted Onodera's back." Don't worry Ricchan, it's not like it's fault your author decided to disappear off the face of the earth because you're a bad editor or something." Kisa's beginning of the cycle smile surrounded by imaginary flowers and sparkles only serves to make Onodera's misery more apparent.

Slumping even more in his seat. "Thanks, I feel so much better now."

Realizing his poor choice of words, Kisa tries to change the subject. "Umm, where's Takano-san?"

It seems that Emerald's handsome devil is nowhere to be seen. Mino looks up from his work. "Ah, he's at a meeting now. From what I've heard there's a new author that applied for an editor last night. However, something seems kind of off about this one."

Hatori raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Mino scratched his head as he contemplated on his next choice of words.

"Well, it seems that the author used to work with Onodera Publishing before applying here. While she was there she only made works of literature. She's actually gotten rather popular in a short period of time, however it seems that no one has ever seen her. Rumor has it that she sends a maid to submit her manuscripts and to talk to her editors. All that's known about her is her pen name 'Esmeralda'." Mino takes a sip of coffee.

This new spread of information sends a new wave of questions through everybody's mind. "Wait, if this author works in literature, then why is Takano-san involved in the meeting?"

"Well that's the odd part about her. She applied for an editor from Emerald."

"Why? Wouldn't it be normal for her to go to the literature department?"

Mino shrugged. "Yes, but she demanded for an editor from Emerald. Nobody knows why she did."

"Oh well, she'll most likely get rejected anyway." Kisa spun in his chair as he figured that this author will be old news quickly.

"Actually, she somehow managed to get her demand accepted." Takano manages to scare the editors by his sudden presence.

"T-Takano-san, how long have you been standing there?" Hoping that his boss hasn't been there for a long time, Kisa goes back to his work to avoid any reprimands.

"I just got here. Anyways, Onodera looks like you have a new author. Make sure she doesn't disappear off the face of the earth like your last author." The editors in the other departments who were listening in were in shock and thought, "Poor guy..."

He hates it when he's being humiliated. Getting up out of his seat, Onodera faces Takano. "Takano-san!"

Even though it's so much fun to watch the jaded editor get so riled up. The other editors of Emerald decide to just to go back to work so they won't get reprimanded and let the two rivals have their standoff. "Oh, right. I almost forgot." Takano reaches into his to pull out a slip of paper. "Here's your author's phone number. Make sure to call her."

Since Onodera doesn't want to make any more of a scene, he just takes the note, "…Got it, boss." and sits back down. As he looks at the phone number he realizes something.

_I've seen this before. But where?_

As he's lost in his thoughts, Kisa decides to ask, "Takano-san I was wondering, did you get to meet the author at the meeting?"

"No, I didn't. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I heard that nobody has ever seen her, so I was just wondering."

Takano shrugs. "As long as her work sells, she could be a psychotic hobo for all I care." Everybody can't help but sweat drop at his comment.

"Back to work everyone."

As everybody gets back to work, Onodera's cell phone vibrates. Takano sighs, "You never learn Onodera, no personal calls."

"I know already, I just forgot to turn my phone off." Onodera pulls out his cell phone and his eyes widen when he looks at the caller I.D.

The phone number is the same as the one on the slip Takano gave him!

Onodera mentally shouted, _Now I remember! It's the missed caller from last night!_

While contemplating whether or not to answer the phone with the others present, Onodera looks over his shoulder to see Takano surrounded by an ominous atmosphere. Panicking, Onodera accidentally presses the 'Talk' button. Realizing his mistake, he has no choice but to talk.

He takes a deep breath.

"This is Onodera speaking"

* * *

To be continued...

**A/N: Please Review!**


	2. Stalker

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi or Mawaru Penguindrum**

* * *

Slightly hunched over in his seat, Onodera takes a deep breath to calm himself down as he answers his cell phone.

"This is Onodera speaking."

_"Hello, this is Esmeralda's assistant. "_ The assistant's voice strikes a shudder down Onodera's spine, not because of the coldness of her voice, but because he's heard it before. _But where?_

"Onodera, I just told you, no personal calls." Onodera jolts in his seat at the now venomous voice of his boss. He turns to see imaginary purple miasma emanating from Takano. The other editors try to not look up from their work. Nobody wants to suffer from his wrath.

Trying to sort out the situation, "Ah, thank you for calling." Onodera looks for a piece of paper and writes down,_ 'It's the author's assistant!'_ and shows it to Takano, who then decides to go back to his work as the imaginary miasma clears up. As he turns to go, he ruffles up Onodera's silky hair. Blushing, Onodera looks up and glares at him, "Taka-"

Smirking,"Don't you know it's rude to keep her waiting? " Takano walks back to his desk, leaving Onodera fuming at him.

_Why the hell does he have to be a pain in the ass at work?!_ After watching him go back to his desk, he turns his head back to his own work.

In order to calm down, Onodera takes a deep breath, "Is there anything I can help you with?" Onodera finds it odd to call immediately after the approval since the author most likely didn't have any work done yet. But then again, this would be a good opportunity to ask about the phone calls.

Wasting no time,_"I wanted to inquire about if you've received a package."_

_A package?_ "What? No, I didn't, hold on a minute let me call the front desk." As he goes to grab the other phone nearby, he immediately retracts his hand as the assistant abruptly says, _"Wait, no!"_

" Eh? Why not?"

_"Umm...The package was supposed to be dropped off at the front desk, it'd be better to check in person."_

Not detecting how suspicious that sentence was, "Ah, ok then."

Onodera gets up, " Takano-san! I have to pick up something the author sent downstairs, I'll be back in a few minutes." Takano's face shows a flash of confusion, but gives the 'ok' nod and Onodera leaves.

Shuffling past the other editors through the corridor, "When did you send it?" Onodera gets to the elevators and presses the button to go down and as he waits, he looks out of the window near the elevators to see that the sun is already setting, _"Oh, you misunderstood, we did not send it."_

Hearing the ring of the elevator, the doors open and Onodera walks away from the window and goes inside. He presses the button for the ground floor and leans against the wall. When the elevator goes down a floor,"Oh, you didn't?" the doors open again. Onodera's emerald eyes widen as they come in contact with sharp blue ones. He does a double take to see the tall figure of Yokozawa the 'wild horse' get on the elevator and he immediately finds the floor very interesting. _"No."_ Yokozawa goes to press the button for his floor, but it was already pressed since he too, is also heading for the ground floor so he can leave for his rounds. "Then who did?" He steps back and stands on the other side of the elevator away from Onodera.

Even though Yokozawa has accepted Onodera's relationship with Takano, both of them can't help but still feel awkward. Onodera keeps his eyes glued to the floor and as the elevator closes its doors and moves down, the assistant tries to speak, but Onodera didn't make out what she said. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

_"...I refuse to tell you."_

"What?" Onodera furrows his eyebrows as he looks at his phone to see that the call ended.

" I see you're done taking personal calls." Surprised by the voice, Onodera turns around to see the blue eyed man cross his arms against his chest. Just because Yokozawa approves of Onodera's relationship doesn't mean he'll let him break company policy.

"W-what? Oh, no that was my new author." Onodera stuttered as he looked down once again.

Yokozawa's eyes slightly widen, "Oh yeah, I heard your old one disappeared off the face of the earth." Onodera put a hand on his stomach and lightly rubbed it.

_Why is everyone out to get me today? My stomach hurts..._

Slowly inching towards the corner of the elevator, "Well, her assistant wanted me to pick up something from the front desk."

_Why won't this elevator go any faster?!_ He mentally shouted.

Suddenly he feels the elevator slow down and he looks up as he hears the elevator's ring and sees that they're finally on the ground floor. The moment the elevator doors open, Onodera rushes out into the lobby. Yokozawa steps out of the elevator and he's the only one who notices a bright flash of light. Deciding to ignore it, Yokozawa heads down the hallway that leads to the side entrance, "Oi, Onodera." He stops walking.

Onodera stops where he is and turns around to see Yokozawa is also staying in place, "Ah,y-yes?"_ Don't tell me he's rub going to rub it in some more..._

Yokozawa slightly turns his head to look Onodera in the eye. "Even though your author decided to quit, don't take it to heart, you're a hard worker and I'm sure that everybody else knows it." he said as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. As he turns his head back and starts walking down the hallway he says a barely audible. "Keep it up."

After watching Yokozawa's retreating figure disappear, Onodera walks over to the front desk and he couldn't help but think,_ He was trying to cheer me up? He really has changed._

It's true, ever since Yokozawa has gotten into a currently secret relationship with Kirishima Zen, he's become a presence that all of his coworkers have come to admire instead of fear.

Onodera unconsciously made a slight pout as he thought, _I wish it had been Takano who said that..._

He did a double take, "Whaat?! Why the hell did I think that?!" he yelled as he clutched his head with his hands and started pacing around the lobby. The only other person in the lobby, the secretary, worriedly asked, "E-excuse me, may I help you?"

He stops panicking, wobbles over, and rests his elbows on the desk while holding his head in his hands, " Ah, yes..."

_In the meantime..._

As Yokozawa walks out of the side entrance of Marukawa publishing, he notices another flash of light and the sound of a shutter . He stops walking, looks over to see where it came from and is utterly baffled by the sight of an uptight looking maid standing against the wall next to the main entrance. Blue eyes covered by her glasses and her her brown hair pulled back in a tight bun, she held a camera in one hand and was currently dialing her cell phone with the other. As she pressed the phone between her ear and shoulder, she stretched out her arms and took a picture of the glass.

"What the hell?" He inaudibly mutters as the maid starts speaking on the phone. " Good evening, Onodera-san."_ Onodera?_

_"Ah, hello, is there anything I can help you with?"_

"Well, I just wanted to ask about the package." she bluntly said as she took another picture.

_"Well, I asked the front desk but they said that they never got any package or any kind of notice of one being sent."_

" Well, I guess there was some kind of error. It might come another day." Yokozawa notices her slight smile as she takes yet another picture. He realizes something, _Wait, is she taking pictures of Onodera?_

Acting on instinct, Yokozawa walks out and confronts the maid. As soon as he yells out, "Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" the maid jumps and turns to see him, she takes the phone off her shoulder, and then bolts off at an incredible speed, keeping both camera and phone in hand. Seeing how fast she was, Yokozawa knew there was no way of catching her.

He scratched his head, "Seriously, what the hell..."

_Down the street..._

The maid is bolting down the street without paying attention to the stares of onlookers and eventually stops to catch her breath in an alley. Resting her hands on her knees, she notices that her hair bun came undone. She ties it back up, presses her back against the wall of the alley and peaks her head out to see if she was followed. She adjusted her glasses as they glinted in the warm sunlight.

_"Hello, is everything all right?"_ Still on guard, she slightly jumped.

Getting surprised by that man and escaping led the maid to forgetting about the phone call. She pressed the phone to her ear, "Ah, yes, I'm sorry, I have to go now." She got what she needed for the mission so there was no point talking to him now.

_"Ah, wait! I-"_ She hung up on him.

Dialing for another number, she speaks to herself,"I have to call milady."

She walks in the direction of the mansion and holds the phone to her ear as she waits for the other end to pick up.

"Milady, I managed to get the shots of Onodera Ritsu you needed."

_"Oh gosh, I must crush him soon. Excellent work Renjaku, report back to the mansion."_

"Yes, Milady."

As she walks, she takes out the camera and looks through the pictures on the screen. The pictures aren't perfect seeing as the glass she shot through wasn't very clear, but it was enough for her to see the target. She can't help but giggle at some of them. Some pictures of Onodera showed him looking peaceful, while others showed him looking hysterical. She cracked a wide and genuine smile as she can't help but think,

_He really has changed..._

_**To be continued...**_


	3. Dreams

The two young editors have currently finished work for the day early and are now heading home. They're standing next to each other on the train due to the fact that the train that they're on is currently packed to the brim with passengers. Onodera's face feels warm as he leans against the side of the train with Takano directly in front of him. Feeling shy, he keeps his eyes on his feet as he feels the Takano's brown gaze penetrating the top of his head. Onodera's still feeling tired so he doesn't feel like starting a conversation.

"Onodera, what happened with the package?"

Looking up with a confused expression, redness swarms his face as emerald meets amber, "What? Oh, apparently it never showed up. The assistant told me there was probably some kind of error and it might come another day. Why do you ask?" He looks back down.

Takano crosses his arms against his chest and takes a deep breath. "Just wondering."

Although he seems relaxed, on the inside, he's full of worry and anger. The reason why is because of a phone call earlier in the day.

* * *

_Flashback..._

After chasing off the maid, Yokozawa was thinking about whether or not to make the phone call as he went to do his rounds. He knew very well that it's against company policy for Takano to answer phone calls during work, but he also knew that it would be worse if he delayed telling his former crush about the maid. He knew how protective Takano was of Onodera.

Waiting at a busy intersection, he decided to dial for Takano's number. The signal to walk has yet to glow. After putting the phone to his ear, he waits for the other end to pick up.

The walking signal glows and everybody starts walking across the busy street. As Yokozawa makes it halfway across, the other end picks up.

"_Yokozawa, this better be important, you know I can't take personal calls in the middle of the day._"

Wanting to get straight to the point, "Today, there was a weird maid in front of Marukawa ."

_"A maid?"_

"Yeah, I chased her off. I'm pretty damn sure she's stalking Onodera."

_"...The hell?" _

"One more thing, I think she's Esmeralda's assistant."

_"Why do you think that?"_

" Well, I ran into Onodera when I was leaving to make my rounds and he told me that she wanted him to pick up something at the front desk."

_"Anything else?"_

"When I left out of the side entrance, I noticed her pressed up against the wall next to the main entrance. She was on the phone talking to him about a package while she was taking pictures of Onodera."

"..." Yokozawa heard a very deep sigh on the other end.

_Flashback over..._

* * *

Back on the train, they're almost at their stop. Most of the passengers have already cleared out, so Takano and Onodera have already taken their seats. Takano is still thinking about what Yokozawa told him.

He looked over next to him to see Onodera nodding his head up and down, his chin going in and out of the scarf around his neck, showing he was about to fall asleep. The bags under his green eyes shows he's still weary from lack of sleep even though hell week is already over. Takano can only assume that he probably had another nightmare when he got home last night. What he didn't know was that Onodera didn't sleep a wink.

Without realizing it, Onodera clutched his hands onto his bag in frustration. He furrowed his eyebrows as he thought, _Even if they're just dreams, I don't want to go back..._

That feeling of emptiness is something he never wants to relive.

Using his first name, "Ritsu, you're sleeping over at my apartment tonight." Onodera snaps out of his thoughts and looks up to reveal wide green eyes and red cheeks.

Takano can't help but think that he looks so adorable, "What?! Why?!"

He shrugged, " Because I said so." He did not want to bring up the stalker issue until he was sure what Yokozawa said was true. It's not that he didn't believe him, he just knew there was a small possibility of a misunderstanding. He also knew that it'll give his beloved another reason to have trouble sleeping at night.

When they get to their stop, they get up to leave. However, Onodera can't help but notice something move under one of the seats. He ducked down to check beneath the seat, however, he found nothing but dust. Takano calls out, "Hurry up! The doors are going to close soon!" Figuring it was just his imagination, he stand back up and gets off the train.

Leaving the station, Onodera looks up to see that the sky is pitch black. As they walk back to their apartment building, Onodera feels the presence again. Even though it's dark out and he didn't hear anything, he couldn't help but feel as if something was there. He turns around but sees nothing out of the ordinary. "What's wrong Onodera?" Takano stops walking and turns around to see what got Onodera's attention.

"Ah, it's nothing, I thought I saw something. It was probably my imagination." Not noticing Takano's worried expression, he turns back around and he continues walking back home. Takano grabs his hand pulls him along so they can go faster.

"Takano-san!" Onodera doesn't put up much of a fight since he's still feeling weary.

"Come on, it looks like it'll rain soon." He lied, he just wanted them to get in the building faster.

As they get into the building, Onodera hears something pattering towards them. He tries to look back to see what it was, but Takano already forces him into the empty elevator and presses the button for their floor before he could see it. "Takano-san? Is everything alright? You don't seem like your usual self." The doors close and as the elevator drifts upwards, Takano pushes him against the side of the elevator and wraps his arms around the smaller man's frame. Onodera can feel the warmness flow to his face again. "Takano-san?"

The elevator slows downs as it stops on their floor. The doors open and Takano pulls away from Onodera but takes his hand and drags him into his apartment. When they get inside, Takano closes the door, he takes Onodera's bag off of his arm and sets it down on the floor. Not bothering to pull of Onodera's coat as well, he picks up his lover bridal style.

"Takano-san?! What do you think you're doing?!" He starts carrying him through his apartment towards his room.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything."

Looking down, he smirks, "Unless you want me to." Blushing, Onodera tries to flail his arms around, but it's no use, he can feel his body getting heavier by the second.

Onodera can feel his eyes closing as Takano gently puts him on the bed and sits down next to him. _Do I really have to go back? _He solemnly thought.

He knew he would most likely go back to the same dream and continue on from where he left off. However, the main reason he didn't want to go back was because he can't stand the empty feeling of being in that place, even in his dreams.

"Let me get you a blanket. " Onodera slightly shifts his tired eyes to see Takano getting up. With one last burst of energy, Onodera manages to grab his hand, almost a whisper, "Don't go, please." He doesn't want to be alone when he drifts off.

Takano's eyes widen. He feels a pang in his chest as he turns around to see Onodera's face of anguish and he sits back down.

"Don't worry Ritsu, I'm not going anywhere." He gives a warm smile and runs his hand through his beloved's silky, brown hair.

Slightly blushing, Onodera makes a tired smile and mouths out a 'thank you' before closing his emerald eyes and letting himself sink back into his dream.

* * *

_In the dream..._

_"Why must it be me? Why must it be us?" he thought out loud._

_As the little boy hugged his legs closer for warmth, he looked around the room where he saw all of the other kids. They were all broken, they gave up as soon they as were forced on the truck to get here. They're all waiting for their turn to die in this place where unneeded kids are gathered. Looking up, the boy sees some of the kids from his shipment huddled together for warmth on the conveyor belts. They know they're going to be erased and won't even try to escape. How much longer will it take until it'll be his turn to leave this cold world?_

_"We will be crushing you into pieces now. You will just become indistinguishable from another." the worker informed._

_Does he really want this?_

_Just because he's not wanted he should let himself die?_

_Wait, what?_

_His eyes widened as he realized. "I'm… not wanted?" He clutched his head in his hands and clenched his eyes shut as he painfully thought. Opening his eyes, he realized something. "Wait, that's not why I'm here. Is it?"_

_Then what was the reason?_

_Hearing the sounds of the others getting crushed throws the boy out of his thoughts. As the boy looks away from the conveyor belt and looks at the puffs of his breath floating up, he looks at the wall to see the large fans that are forever spinning and letting the light in through the gaps between their blades. The beautiful light is mocking him, the outside world is so close, yet he can never reach where the light is coming from. Tears are coming to the boy's now dim green eyes._

_That light must be warm._

_He reached out to grab it. To feel his last connection to the outside world. For some reason, that beautiful light created two silhouettes. A little girl and a grown man._

_ A gentle and sweet voice mixed with a baritone but warmhearted one tickled his ears. _

**_Ritsu, we will always love you…_**

_The girl's voice happily spoke out alone._

**_Ritsu, this is your chance!_**

_His chance? For what?_

_ However, he noticed the light growing dimmer. There were probably clouds in the sky that were blocking the light. However, the boy didn't think of this possibility._

_Panicking, the boy got up and reached out to his hallucinations with tears in his eyes. "Don't go!" _

_"Father!"_

_He trips as the conveyor belt he's on moves at a faster pace. He gets back up and looks around again to see that almost everything is unchanged. The others in the conveyor belts above him are still huddled together as they get closer to the shredder below him. The boy looks down to see that he's gotten pretty close to the bottom. _

_'It's almost my turn, huh?' the boy thought._

_The sounds of the crushing is getting louder. The sounds of the dying are being deafened by the blades. The boy stands up and starts walking upwards. The fire of determination lit up his beautiful green eyes._

_ "To die without even trying to live, that's just not me." He chuckles to himself as he looks up._

_ The shards of the others that were already erased are everywhere. Some of them glint in the light coming through the blades. The boy focuses on the light above as he continues moving upward through the floating shards. He ignores the pain of the glass cutting through his arms, his legs, his hands, the sides of his stomach, and his face. However, he holds his hand against his neck as a small cut forms there._

_As he goes past the other kids still huddled together they start asking,_

_'Why do you want to live?'_

_'Aren't you unneeded too?'_

_'Wouldn't it be better to just die?'_

_He ignores all of them as he walks on through the shards. He already knew there was no way of saving them. They'd already given up. He could see it in their eyes. The only reason the boy is even trying to live is because of his stubbornness. Possibly because of his hallucination as well. _

_He manages to climb up to the top and manages to get up to the child broiler sign. He starts feeling dizzy as he looks down to see his little body covered in cuts and his thin clothes soaked in blood. He leans on the sign for support and he feels that it's actually warm. 'It's so thin too.' he thought._

_ He puts some energy into his arms as he pushes the thin fabric and he ends up falling over into the other side of the wall. He lands on his right side and yelps in pain as his cut littered arm takes most of the impact of the short fall._

_ He turns onto his back and looks up with tears glistening his eyes as he feels the warmth of the sun on his face. He wants to close his eyes and let himself sleep but he know it's best to go find help. _

_He gets up and starts walking into the city. The boy is surprised how close the 'Child Broiler' was to the urban area. He thought it would be easy to find help, but he was wrong. As he walked through the busy streets, people avoided him as he came near. Some people even pushed him, not caring as he fell to the ground._

_ The disheveled, bloody boy kept moving onwards. Carefully, he treaded through the patches of ice on the street. Most of the cuts have already stopped bleeding at this point. He cradled his right arm when the pain was getting worse. _

_The cuts were reopening on his arm. When he wiped away the blood from his hand he saw a scar. Lifting up the sleeve of his thin sweater, he sees that it goes further back. He presses the sleeve back further and is surprised to see that the scar covers the entire outside of his arm. "I don't remember getting this." he said. He knew now was not the time to focus on the scar or the cuts though. Putting the sleeve back, he continues walking._

_After over an hour of walking through the unknown city, the boy loses his strength and goes into a nearby alley to sit next to a dumpster. The sun had already set and it's starting to rain. He realizes this is the most he can do given his current state. He was also aware of the fact that the temperature is dropping quickly. He won't be able to survive the night at this rate. All he wore was a thin sweater and pants that were marred by the shards earlier._

_Sitting in that alley, he felt as if he was all alone in the world, for that moment. He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating, but he could've sworn he saw a little girl standing in front him for a split second. Her sweet scent filled the air for that moment. "Momoka…" Blinking his weak eyes, her image disappears but in her place was something small and red. His vision was too blurry to even make out what it was, even though it sat between his legs._

_Oddly enough, its mere presence was enough to comfort him. In the bleakness of the alleyway, it was the only thing that shone through with its crimson shine. Its sweet scent wafted through his nose as he realized._

_"This…!"_

_Tears start trickling down his cheek and drip off his chin as he sadly smiles. He's getting weaker by the second but oddly enough, his body starts feeling lighter. All of the pain in his body has gone numb. As his eyes droop he hears nearby footsteps and splashes followed by a small gasp. He looks up to see two figures, but he can't make out their features since his vision has gotten blurry. _

_He reaches out and falls over into a cold puddle. He yelps as the previously numb pain explodes all over his body, the worst in his arm. The next thing he hears before he blacks out is them coming closer and himself saying, "I want to live..."_

_End of the dream..._

* * *

Takano lies on his side on the soft bed as he hugs his precious sleeping uke. He fell asleep after Onodera nodded off, however he woke up an hour ago and decided to stay awake and watch his beloved sleep. He managed to slip the scarf off of Onodera's neck and even managed to slip the heavy jacket off the heavy sleeper. Leaving him in his sweater and jeans.

He hears Onodera murmuring something in his sleep, but he can't make out what it is. Breathing heavily and having a troubled expression, he was starting to show signs of a nightmare. Without moving his body, Takano looks over to his nightstand's alarm clock to see that it's eleven o' clock. His alarm won't go off for another thirty minutes.

As he's deciding whether or not to wake up Onodera, he hears more groaning and looks back down to see Onodera clenching his teeth and furrowing his eyebrow. He was also clutching his right arm as if he were in pain.

* * *

_In the dream..._

_Where am I?_

_Onodera felt himself getting ripped out of his dream and pulled into pitch black darkness. He can't do anything. He doesn't even bother to open his eyes. All he feels is himself floating, as if he were in water. He can feel himself starting to sink. His hair is wisping about, his open jacket is lightly brushing around his body as his shirt is floating up at the hem, revealing his pale stomach. _

_He opens his eyes as he hears something swishing done towards him. It's a little boy. His younger self in fact, floating parallel to his body. Noticing the bandages that wrapped around his right arm, he winced. However the boy just smiles as he holds half of an apple._

_"Please, you have to remember." The boy innocently asks as he extends his hand holding the apple slice. By reflex, Onodera reaches for the apple._

_"Remember what?" He asked, confusion in his voice. He doesn't know what the boy wants him to remember._

_The moment he grabs the apple, the boy disappears and Onodera hears an unrecognizable, ominous voice._

**_Punishment..._**

_"What?"_

_The apple disappears out of his hand. Onodera screams in agony as his hand catches on fire, which quickly spreads up his arm and to the rest of his body. Unable to escape the ball of fire, he suddenly hits solid ground. Landing on his back, he turns to his side as he curls his legs to his chest. Gasping for breath in the midst of the fire he grabbed for his neck as if there was a way to get air._

_"This has got to be a dream!" He gasped out, the pain is too much for him. He feels as if he'll really die here._

_"Wake up! Wake up…!" Yelling at himself does no good either._

_End of the dream.._.

* * *

Deciding to wake him up, Takano grabs Onodera's shoulder and shakes him gently. "Ritsu, wake up." The moment he does, his green eyes instantly open wide and he howls in pain. The pain Onodera felt in his dream came back with him, but it was much worse this time.

"Ritsu!" He starts thrashing about on the bed. Worried, the black haired man pulled him close and waited for him to calm down out of his panic attack. "Make it stop!" He painfully cried out.

Onodera still can't make sense of anything since he's still blinded by the pain. Furrowing his eyebrows and narrowing his eyes in frustration, he feels Onodera shaking uncontrollably against his chest, Takano knew there was nothing else he could do to lessen his lover's pain or relieve him of his panic attack. He felt so useless...

After about a minute, Onodera becomes quiet and stops moving around. The next thing Takano hears is labored breathing, "Ritsu? Are you alright?" Takano lifts up Onodera's chin with his finger, only to see lifeless, dim, green eyes staring into space. Even in the light of the room, they're not reflecting any of it.

"My...Punishment..." Onodera's quivering voice matched the tears streaming down his face. However, his expression remains unchanged. Takano's getting more worried as he monotonously repeats 'My punishment'.

"My…"

Stopping mid-phrase, the amber eyed man grows even more worried. "Ritsu?" He cups Onodera's face in his hands and wipes away the tears with his thumbs. The moment he does, his emerald eyes flicker, showing that he snapped out of it. "…Huh?"

Onodera immediately grows flustered when he notices how close their faces are, "Wha- Takano-san? What's wrong?" The first thing he looks at when he snaps out of his trance is Takano's worried expression.

"Don't scare me like that!" Onodera grows even more confused as Takano moves his hands

away from his uke's face and around his neck, pulling him close. His face reddened as their bodies were pressed together.

"What do you mean?" Takano instantly pulls back, sitting upright and looking at him wide eyed.

"What do you mean 'What do you mean'?! You were having a nightmare and when I woke you up you had a panic attack! Even afterwards, you were in some sort of trance!" The brunet looks up at him, even more confused than before.

"Takano-san..." Onodera sits up as well but Takano grabs his shoulders, shaking him back and forth.

"What the hell kind of nightmare did you have to be like that?!" Takano didn't want to be rough with him, but he doesn't want his lover to hide anything.

Onodera's eyes widen in realization, "I don't remember..." He furrowed his eyebrows as he thought back on it. He remembers the first dream since he's had it before, but the second was a blur. The more he thought about it, he could feel something familiar come back.

He felt himself starting to get sucked back into the familiar darkness of space. There was a sweet scent in the air. He could see something green that was shining off in the distance. The words just came to him as he immediately started. "**Sur-**"

However, before he could finish, he was being shaken again.

"Ritsu!" Takano was getting worried because he saw him getting that empty expression again.

Back to earth, the brunet found himself pressed against Takano's chest again. Blushing, he slowly looked up before asking, "…Eh? What happened?"

Figuring it'd be best not to press on it any further, he takes a deep sigh, " I bet you're hungry."

He chuckles when Onodera's answer is a stomach growl. Feeling his face go red, Onodera meekly answers, "Ah, sorry, I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday."

He runs his hand through the brunet's hair, "I'll fix up something to eat." Onodera nods as Takano gets up off the bed and leaves the room. Before Onodera follows him into the other room, he starts overheating, so he takes off his sweater and sets it on Takano's bed.

_It's so warm in here, _he thought as he walked into Takano's living room. He sits down on the couch and looks at his right arm as he notices that it's warmer than the rest of his body. He lifts up the sleeve of his shirt to check, but puts it back down as he sees everything looks normal. After a minute, his arm's temperature goes back to normal.

_That's weird, _he thought.

Snapped out of his thoughts, "Onodera, I hope you don't mind leftovers." Takano walks over out of the kitchen holding a bowl of steamed white rice in one hand and a bowl with dried salmon in the other. Takano hasn't had the time to buy groceries, so he had to make do with what he had.

He looks up and hastily responds, "No, it's ok, I don't mind, sorry to bother you."After placing everything on the coffee table, Takano sighs as he walks over, sits next to his fidgety beloved, and lightly wraps his arm around Onodera's waist. "You apologize too much, just eat."

Onodera slightly nods and claps his hands, "Itadikimasu."

* * *

**Please Review!**


	4. A New Friend

Onodera's heading home early today, where in his job's language, early means midnight. He managed to finish all of his work, which included discussing the storyline of Esmeralda's new manga with her assistant over the phone. He tried asking her about the phone calls from before but she immediately hung up.

Standing in front of his apartment, he rummages through his bag for his key, and unlocks the door. Hearing the elevator ring, Onodera looks to his right to see its doors opening to reveal a tired looking, young delivery man holding a box with both of his hands.

"Ah, are you Onodera Ritsu?"

"Ah, yes."

"I have a refrigerated package for you. Please sign here." The delivery man gestures for the clipboard on the box he's holding.

Onodera picks up the clipboard and signs with the attached pen. After signing, he takes the box off the delivery man's hands. It was heavier than it looked but it was light enough for him to hold with one arm as he manages to open the door to his apartment and carry it into his messy living room. After he sets it and his bag on his coffee table, he looks for the return address but doesn't find it.

All he finds is 'perishable' written on the box. So he just opens it up to find something cold, hard, round, and pink. He can also see something underneath it, but he isn't sure what it is since it's covered by ice. He can't tell what either of them are.

He pokes it, "What is it? Hmm... maybe this was what Esmeralda's assistant was talking about." He tries calling her, but she doesn't pick up. So he just sends a text message. It'll probably take a while before she responds.

Yawning, "Guess I'll check after my shower." he heads for the bathroom and takes his time in the shower. As the hot beads of water pounded away at his body, he let the time fly as he thought about his dream.

_It's been so long since I've thought about that place..._

He looks at his pale right arm, unmarred by anything as of late, except for a few fading hickeys. _When did that scar fade? _The surrounding time period of the dream was the only time he remembers seeing the scar. He actually can't remember what caused the scar. He has an idea of what most likely happened, but he's not too certain.

"Was the reason I was there because of…" He vigorously shook his head at the thought. "No way! I already knew how to control it by then…"

_What really happened? Did mother really… no… before that happened she… but she, she always… _Banging his head against the wall of the shower, he wipes away his newly sprung tears. He clutches his head in his hands as he mentally yells at himself. _Why the hell am I thinking about this?!_

Shifting away from the thoughts of his mother, he thinks about a more current issue.

_Should I tell Takano-san about my dream?_ Ever since he stayed over at Takano's place the other day, they've both been wary about each other on the topic. Onodera's been doing the best he can to avoid him as much as possible. Even though telling his lover about it would lift the weight a little off of his chest, he'd rather just forget about it. He turns off the water and dries himself off with a nearby towel.

By the time he's done, he walks back into his messy living room, with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He checks his phone for any new messages and finds none. As he leisurely puts his clothes on, he realizes, "I should really clean this place up."

Looking around the living room, he spots piles off laundry undone, books lying around, and trash bags filled to the brim in a corner of the room. It's amazing that he hasn't spotted a single cockroach. While contemplating on what to start with, his stomach starts growling.

_"_I guess I can clean up after getting dinner."

The lazy man grabs his jacket and bag before heading out the door. As he leaves the apartment building into the cool night air, he looks at the sky to see that even though it's gotten dark, he can tell it'll rain soon. Figuring he won't take too long, he speed walks down the street towards the convenience store.

As he approaches the convenience store, he can feel his bag vibrating. Stopping right outside of the store, he pulls his phone out of his bag. It shows that he has one new message from Esmeralda's assistant. It says**, It's good to know that you have the package. Esmeralda wants to arrange an appointment tomorrow to discuss the storyline even further. I'll call tomorrow to arrange the time.**

He scrolls down to see if there's anymore, but there isn't. The brunet takes a deep sigh as he puts the phone away and goes into the convenience store. _Just what the hell is up with that assistant?! _

Onodera's starting to get frustrated with her, not because of her stiffness, but because of how odd she is, and he hasn't even met her yet. Whenever he tries to ask her about the phone calls from the other day she immediately hangs up. He can only hope that Esmeralda herself isn't as frustrating.

He so wishes that Mutou sensei would come back, but since she disappeared, there was no way of contacting her. He could go over to where she lives, but he doesn't have the time to make such a long trip to Hokkaido. So he'll have to make do with Esmeralda for now.

He buys his dinner, which is instant ramen, along with some energy drinks. Looking at the bag containing his dinner, "I should start learning how to cook one day..." Living off of junk food is going to ruin his health one day.

Walking out of the convenience store, he's suddenly met by a sudden downpour. "Crap, I better run." He immediately regrets not taking his umbrella with him as he runs through the pounding raindrops slapping at his face. As he runs back to the apartment building, he can feel the phone vibrating again, however he has to hold it off until he's in the building. By the time he's in the building he's dripping wet. His tracks are leaving puddles in the lobby, the elevator, and the hallway towards his apartment. As he looks for his key, he hears a familiar voice. "Oh my! You poor thing!"

Onodera turns to see the middle aged woman who lives on the same floor come towards him. Obviously, Onodera didn't get a chance to look in the mirror, but he knows he most likely looks terrible as his hair clung to his face and his clothes are soaked through, still dripping wet and clinging uncomfortably to his body.

Being polite towards his elders, "Ah, don't worry, I just didn't beat the downpour. If you're going out, I recommend that you bring an umbrella."

"Thanks for the tip, but you should hurry and dry yourself off, you'll catch a cold like that." When she gets on the elevator and the doors close, Onodera's phone vibrates again. He really wants to just go inside and take another shower so he just ignores it and goes inside.

The first thing Onodera notices is that the lights are on, even though he remembers turning them off before he left. When he looks down on the step of the entrance, there lays a neatly folded towel. Picking it up, _I really don't remember leaving a towel here._

He jumps and drops the towel as he hears something pattering about in the living room.

"Who's there?!"

He hears more pattering and then sees an approaching shadow. Seeing a long shadow, he backs up towards the door in fear, ready to bolt in case it was something he couldn't handle. As whatever it is makes it closer to the hallway, the brunet's heart rate shoots at an alarming rate. His eyes widen, not in fear, but because, he sees something he definitely didn't expect.

"Kyu?"

* * *

_Down in the lobby (1 hour later)..._

"Why the hell wasn't he picking up?" Amber eyed man stood impatiently as he waited for an elevator to come. He's been calling Onodera ever since he left work but he never picked up. Unlike Onodera, Takano brought an umbrella with him, thus avoided getting wet on the way home from work. Hearing the sound of the automatic front doors, Takano turns around to see the middle aged woman come in. After pulling back her umbrella, she steps next to Takano as she waits for the elevator. She looks him over to see that he's completely dry.

"Oh my, looks like you seem well though."

"Excuse me?"

The elevator's ring is followed by the opening of the doors and they enter. She gestures with her hand and then puts it over her mouth, "Ah, I met Onodera-san an hour ago when I was leaving. The poor thing didn't look so well, but then again, nobody would look well, being soaked to the bone like him."

As the elevator's doors open to their floor, the gossipy woman gestures to the floor as they exit. "See? He left puddles that led all the way up to his apartment."

Takano's eyes widen at this brand of information. "Excuse me, I'm going to check on him."

"No problem, send him my regards." The woman disappears down the hallway into her apartment. Takano goes to Onodera's door and bangs on it. "Onodera! Open up or I'm going to break in!" Not hearing any reply, he checks the door and sees that it's unlocked. Walking inside, he sees that the lights are off.

"Onodera?" His questioning tone implies that he feels that something's off. He knows that he's most likely here since his wet shoes were at the entrance. There's no response to Takano's call. Walking into Onodera's living room, he turns on the lights and is shocked by the sight. Who'd have thought that the impossible happened?

"What the hell happened? It's so clean!"

* * *

_One hour ago..._

"Kyu?"

"A penguin?" _How did a penguin get in here? Why the hell is it pink?_

The penguin patters down the hall and picks up the towel Onodera dropped. It lifts it up above its head, gesturing for Onodera to take it. "Kyu?" _Am I hallucinating?!_

"Ah, thank you." Deciding to just go with it, he takes it off and starts drying himself off. While rubbing the towel through his damp hair, he feels the penguin pulling at the hem of his soggy brown jacket. It doesn't seem like a hallucination since he can feel its tugging.

"What is it?" The penguin gestures its wings so it looks like it's taking off a jacket.

"You want me to take my jacket off?"

Stepping back and nodding its body, "Kyu."

Onodera complies to the penguin's request, taking it off, he watches as it drags his soggy coat down the hallway into the living room. He dries himself a bit more before he takes his bags and goes into the living room.

"Wha?" He goes into shock as he sees that his living room is sparkly clean. He drops his bags off on his couch and looks around more thoroughly. All of the carelessly tossed about clothing and garbage are now gone. All of the books are back on the shelves. The only article of clothing he sees is his wet jacket, which is getting wrung out by the penguin over the kitchen sink. After it finishes wringing out the jacket, the penguin gestures for the coat hanger on the wall.

"Ah, thank you." He takes the slightly wet jacket and hangs it on the wall. Onodera can tell that at this point, it'll be able to dry off by tomorrow. He turns around to see that the pink penguin is now standing beside him. Crouching down to the penguin's level, he asks, "Excuse me, but were you the one who cleaned everything up?"

Nodding its little body, "Kyu."

"Thank you so much! I don't mean to be rude, but why?"

It gestures over to the box on Onodera's table. He looks over to see that it's empty, with the exception of the melting ice cubes. He fails to remember that there was something else that was inside with the penguin, but he's too tired to notice.

"Wait, you were what was inside the package?"

The penguin nodded, "Achoo!" Onodera sniffles as he realizes that he's not completely dry yet. He has to go to take a shower before he catches a cold.

"Excuse me, I'm going to take a shower."

As he takes a shower for the second time today, he realizes, "What the hell is going on?" He never thought penguins could do chores, much less be pink. Leaning against the wall of the shower, he let the hot water pound away at his back as he spoke his thoughts.

"I guess work has officially turned me insane..."

"I guess it's only a matter of time before I go to an insane asylum..."

"Maybe I just so happened to pass out on the street and this is just a dream. Yes, that's it!"

After doing his deductions on his mental state, he finishes his relatively quick shower. He opens the shower's door to see another folded towel and a set of pajamas sitting next to each other on the floor.

Pausing before reconsidering, "But then again, it might be nice if this were real."

He dries himself off before putting on his soft blue pajamas. Walking into the living room, still drying his hair off with his towel, he's smacked in the face with the smell of noodles. He looks at the couch to see that his bag with his ramen is gone.

"Did the penguin steal my ramen?"

"Kyu " He looks over to the kitchen where he heard the sound to see the penguin stirring a pot. He goes over to see that the penguin emptied out the contents of the ramen bowl he bought and put the noodles along with some vegetables and other stuff it found in his refrigerator into the pot.

"You can cook too?" _Didn't know I owned a pot..._

"Kyu" The penguin went and grabbed a nearby bowl. It pulled out the ladle and poured the noodles into the bowl. It handed the steaming bowl of noodles to Onodera, "Kyu"

"Ah, thank you." He takes it and gives it a try. His eyes widen and sparkle as he realizes, I n_ever thought instant noodles could taste so good!_

He gives the penguin a goofy smile. "Thanks so much!"

The penguin jumps down off the counter goes across the room to look through the books on Onodera's shelves. Before he goes to sit down and eat, he sets the bowl on the counter and looks for another bowl. He finds one and pours the rest of the noodles into it. He walks across the room with both bowls and crouches down, "Here you go."

"Kyu?"

"Aren't you hungry too?" Nodding, the pink penguin takes the bowl off of his hand and they both sit down at the table.

_Looks like I'll have to start buying lots of fish if this penguin is real, _he thought as he clapped his hands together.

"Itadakimasu."

"Kyu"

* * *

_Back to the present..._

Takano looks around to see that all of the clothes that his subordinate carelessly tossed around are gone. The once overwhelming pile of trash bags have disappeared as well. He goes over to Onodera's table to see that it's completely dust free. He could see the sparkles of cleanliness everywhere. Marveled at the sight of the clean apartment, its resident is nowhere to be found. He spots Onodera's cell phone lying next to his bag on the couch. So he knows that he's definitely here.

"Onodera?" He walks through the rest of the clean apartment and sighs in relief as he finds his beloved asleep in his bed. He quietly looks over his beloved sleeping soundly under his warm blanket. It looks like he dried himself off properly so he doesn't have to worry about him catching a cold. He looked so cute he wanted to hold him and sleep together, but he knew it wouldn't be the best option for now since Takano has an early meeting tomorrow, so it'd be best to sleep in his own apartment for the night.

Before leaving the room, he leans over, kisses his love on the forehead, and whispers, "I love you, sweet dreams".

However, he hesitates to move as he sees him shifting to his side, facing Takano. Even in the darkness of the room, Takano could see him blushing in his sleep and making a goofy smile.

"Masamune..."

Hearing his first name being called out, Takano loses his composure. He can feel his face go completely red as he kneels in front of the bed and rests his elbows on the bed while hiding his warm face behind his hands. He can't recall the last time Onodera called him by his first name. It was always 'Takano-san' even when they made love, or 'sempai' when he normally talked in his sleep. The only other person to call him by his first name is Yokozawa, whom he only sees as a friend.

He looks over Onodera still smiling like an idiot in his peaceful sleep. The words just fell through his lips, "Seriously... what the hell are you?"

Not wanting to leave, he figured he could sit there and watch his love sleep for a little bit before he has to go back. Without realizing it, he let the darkness take him and fall asleep. After falling sound asleep, he failed to notice a warm blanket being placed on his body thanks to a certain pink penguin.

"Kyu"


	5. Spells, Penguins, and Old Friends

"That was a close call."

Takano just barely made it on time to catch the train for his early morning meeting. He let himself fall asleep in Onodera's apartment after watching his love sleep. The only reason he managed to wake up in time to get ready for the meeting was because he felt something poking his back through the blanket he never remembered putting on. He could've sworn he heard something walking around the apartment but after searching, he found nothing. Looking at the time, he only had time to change his clothes.

"Guess I'll have to talk to Onodera after work."

As he walks up to Marukawa's building, energy drink in hand, he heard a camera shutter close, but decided to ignore it until it was followed by someone muttering, "Where's Ritsu?". The moment he hears 'Ritsu' he whips his head to see where the sound came from and is bewildered to see across the street, a maid standing behind a car. She was holding a camera, aimed at him, and took another picture before bolting down the street.

"What the hell?"

Takano realizes she was the stalker maid Yokozawa informed him about. However, he never thought that she would take pictures of him as well. From what Yokozawa told him, it was assumed that Onodera was the only one getting stalked.

Walking into the mostly vacant building muttering, 'Crazy cosplay maid' he notices that one of the elevators is open and about to close. "Hold on! I'm coming in!"

He charges in before the doors close to find that the only other occupant of the elevator is none other than Yokozawa. Surprised by his arrival, "Masamune, didn't expect you to be here at this time. I thought you'd already be in the conference room." Takano was always the type to be one of the first people to show up to a meeting. Today was the exception since he accidentally fell asleep in his subordinate's apartment. He was lucky enough to have woken up with enough time to get ready.

"Yeah, I ended up oversleeping."

The blue eyed man chuckled out, "That's rare."

Drifting upwards, the elevator doors open to their floor for the meeting and as they walk down the empty hallway, "Oh yeah, I spotted that maid you told me about across the street."

"Really? What was she-" He was cut off by a third voice.

"What's this about a maid I hear?" Just outside of their conference room they spot the ever so chipper Ryuuichiro Isaka leaning against the wall. The new president of Marukawa is unexpectedly early when he's normally the last one to show up.

"Ah, Isaka-san, there's a strange maid that's been lurking around the building for a few days now. From what I can tell she's a stalker."

Isaka's sapphire eyes widen but then narrowed as he realizes who it could most likely be. Before anything else, he had to make sure, "Let me guess, did she have brown hair tied up in a bun, glasses with red rims, along with wearing a white blouse, long dark green skirt, and a ridiculously large bow tied to her back?" Judging from the widening eyes of both of his subordinates, he was right.

"Isaka-san? You know her?" Neither of the subordinates expected Isaka to know a stalker.

Not wanting to approach this any further, "Well! The meeting's about to start!" he gestures for the men to enter the conference room. The way he responded chalks up a new list of questions. Takano wants to press on but he knows that it'll have to wait until after the meeting. Walking into the room and not looking back, Isaka makes one last comment before they take their seats, "Don't worry, she's not stalking Onodera for the reasons you might think."

The amber eyed man's eyes widen in shock as he notices that neither he nor Yokozawa had mentioned that the maid was stalking Onodera. "Isa-"

"Let's get started!"

* * *

_Many hours later..._

After the long meeting ended, Takano reluctantly went up to the Emerald department. He wanted to ask Isaka more questions about the maid but his superior high-tailed it before he could. All this suspicious behavior is starting to drive him insane. When he walks into Emerald he sees that all of his busy editors are there, except for one. "Where's Onodera?"

Kisa looks up from his laptop, "Ah, Ricchan left about thirty minutes ago because he had to go meet up with Esmeralda to talk about her new work."

"Ah, I see." Even though he seems passive, he's full of worry on the inside. Isaka told him not to worry but he can't help it when he knows that his beloved is being stalked. Plus the person who's stalking him seems to have relations with the author. As he goes back to his desk, Kisa continues on, "Hey Mino, I thought you said that nobody has ever met Esmeralda in person before. "

"That, I did."

"Then how come Ricchan gets to meet her?"

"I don't know, maybe she wanted to see him because she has a crush on him." He jokingly said, however, he fails to realize that'll stir up Takano even more.

"Heh, probably, I bet they're meeting right about now."

"What makes you say that?"

"Ricchan told me that they're meeting not too far from here." Little did they know, it's actually the hidden western cafe Kisa goes to.

* * *

_At the cafe..._

Onodera just made it to the cafe with his penguin buddy, however he looks around to see that none of these people seem to fit what a mangaka would look like. Remembering what the assistant told him about looking for a table out of the way from the other customers, he looks around and finds a table along the wall behind the large wooden staircase of the cafe. He takes off his jacket and puts them on the back of his chair.

"I guess she's running late." Waiting for Esmeralda to show up at the near vacant cafe, Onodera is left to his thoughts about his day.

Onodera was originally wary of bringing the penguin out into public because he thought that it would attract attention. However, he quickly noticed on the train this morning when it was bumping into people that it was invisible yet still tangible. He was so glad to realize that he was most likely not hallucinating. However, he was still skeptical.

He didn't have to worry about evading Takano for the day since he was in a meeting that lasted the entire time Onodera was at Marukawa. While he worked, the pink penguin went about the space to look around. It went without saying that nobody noticed the penguin's presence. Even if they could see it, the pink penguin would blend in with the shoujo setting of Emerald with no problem.

Onodera was surprised to see the penguin reading the shojo manga that was lying around as he worked. It seemed that the penguin has a love for all kinds of books when it was raiding through the bookshelves in the office. He couldn't help but wonder why the other workers didn't notice the books moving around. Wouldn't people freak out if they saw books floating around?

He also recalled the penguin putting something in his bag, but before he could check what it was the penguin took his bag and hid it until he had to leave. He wanted to ask what it was doing but he didn't want to attract attention since it would look like he was talking to thin air. So he'll have to wait until later.

Looking down, he warmly smiles as he sees the penguin indulging in one of Usami Akihiko's books. Speaking loud enough for only the penguin to hear, "Hey, if you'd like, do you want to go to a bookstore later?" The penguin looks up to show its tiny eyes sparkling followed by a "Kyu".

Chuckling to himself, _I guess that means yes._

Next to the penguin was his bag. The penguin poked at his bag followed by a "Kyu". He notices something unusually familiar in the open bag and was about grab it.

_Could it be-_

Onodera is snapped out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps followed by someone muttering, "Oh gosh, I must crush him soon. You are Onodera Ritsu, correct?"

He looks up to see an elegant seventeen year old girl walking around the stairs over to his table. He looks her over to see her wearing a single-breasted beige jacket, red shirt and white tie underneath it, and a beige skirt along with black leggings that blended with her shoes. Her perfectly curled red hair went well with her sharp blue eyes and her heart shaped face. In tow was a black penguin with a heart shaped face and sharp black eyes. He wasn't sure what surprised him more, the fact that this young girl was Esmeralda or that she had a penguin with her.

Getting up to greet her, "Ah yes, that's me. It's a pleasure to meet you. You're Esmeralda, correct?" Looking at her closely, he realizes that she looks very familiar.

Bringing out a warm smile, "Yes, let's get to work."

When they take their seats across from each other, Onodera looks down to see his penguin having a standoff with the other black one. A waitress comes by to take their orders. Onodera orders a coffee while the girl orders black tea. When the waitress leaves, the words just spill out of her mouth.

"Heh, your penguin would be pink."

"What?"

"Nothing. Here, I've written down the plot of my book along with the different arcs that the characters will go through. " She takes out a couple sheets of paper and hands it over.

He looks through what was written and is pleased to see how original and captivating the plot already is. However, something seems off about it. He could see how this can fit into a shoujo manga magazine, but seeing how the themes of the story involve fate and punishment gives him a bad vibe. It's as if the memories of his life were thrown back in his face.

"Excuse me, do you also have your character designs?" Her penguin climbs up on the table and hands him the sheet with the character designs. "Kyu-hu."

"Ah, thank you." Looking through all of the characters, he sees that they're well designed, however one name came to him like a slap in the face. He looks up with bewildered eyes, remembering who this girl is.

"M-Masako?"

"Oh gosh, it took you long enough Ritsu."

"Here you go." The waitress comes back with their orders and places them on the table. In unison, "Thank you" they continue on when she walks away.

"Esmeralda is actually her name. I just figured it would make a good pen name." She pointed over to where the penguins are reading.

While looking at the penguins, Onodera realized, _Oh yeah, I haven't given it a name yet..._

Picking up her tea and sipping it even though it's still hot, "Still, I figured you would take longer time. How'd you figure it out so quickly?" She was already aware of the fact that Onodera was the slow type of person in remembering people. It's been five years since they last met. After coming back from studying abroad, he had maintained some contact with her, however the friends of eleven years couldn't spend any more time together since Masako had to work on taking over the family company while Onodera was working as an editor in his family company. He never thought they would meet again under these circumstances. Especially after what happened eleven years ago… Only a few people, including Masako, knew the real reason the brunet was sent overseas.

Looking down at the character sheet, "Well, when I noticed your brother's name was used for one of the characters, that's when it clicked. 'Kanba' is an unusual name and he's the only person I've ever known with such a name."

Masako's sapphires widen and she almost drops her teacup as she can't believe what she just heard. She silently muttered, "What?" _Impossible, how can he remember Kanba?! _

She didn't expect her brother to be the reason. She thought she'd have to give her own name for him to realize. When Kanba 'died' he was completely erased from this world. The only remnant she had of him were her dreams that came by frequently. Up to this point in time she never would've thought that another person would remember him.

Not noticing her disbelief, he continues on, "So, how's it going with your brother? Did you manage to bring him back?" He chuckled. "Heh, I bet he's as hard headed as always."

Without realizing it, drops of water start falling down her cheeks. However, they're not tears of sadness, they're tears of relief. Months after Kanba's 'death' Masako has been questioning whether or not her brother really existed. She's still unaware of what happened on the day the fate transfer had occurred since she was still bedridden at the time. All she remembers is waking up to see her little brother, Mario, perfectly healthy with no knowledge of Kanba.

"Eh?! What's wrong?!" Panicking, Onodera looks around for a napkin to wipe away her tears. Watching him fumble around, she comes to realization that her plans are changing. If he really does remember then there is hope for her nonexistent brother. "Do you really remember Kanba?"

"Eh? Of course I do. You were so bent on getting him back. Did something happen?"

Wiping away her tears, she gives a sad smile. "Ritsu, do you believe in fate?"

"Eh? Why?" At that point, Masako decides to divulge everything that happened from the day the penguin hats first appeared to the day of the fate transfer but some parts had remained scattered because there was some information she never learned. There were some things she purposely left out, such as the name "Sanetoshi Watase" and when she pushed one of Kanba's ex-girlfriends down an escalator.

The entire explanation took up roughly two hours. There were many questions Onodera wanted ask as she told her story, especially about the penguin hats but Onodera knew he had to wait until she finished. As Onodera was hanging on every word of the story, he failed to notice a pair of customers walking in when she was just about done. One of which, Onodera is very well acquainted with.

_'What's Ricchan doing here?!'_

_"Kisa-san, what's wrong?"_

"_Shhh! Let's sit down!" After shushing Yukina, they sit down at the table near the entrance. Kisa faces away from where Onodera is sitting so he won't get recognized._

_Whispering, "That's a friend of mine from work. I didn't know he was on a date!" Judging from the girl's appearance, even though he only saw her back, the girl didn't look like a shoujo mangaka. So he felt the only other possibility was a girlfriend._

"I thought you might know something since I learned that you knew Momoka, but I never thought you'd remember onii-sama. I'm amazed you believe everything I've told you. The only reason I actually started having hope was when she had come back after a month of what happened." She gestures to her penguin, Esmeralda.

"Of course I would, you're not the type to joke about something like that. Besides, you'd be surprised by what I know." He leans down his side to grab his bag to get what he noticed earlier, the diary of the deceased Momoka Oginome. "You and your brother were after this, correct?"

The moment he shows it to her, she jumps up and lunges for it but he pulls it back before she could grab it. In the process she managed to spill both of their drinks and Esmeralda ended up tumbling off the table.

_Both Yukina and Kisa jump in their seats at the sound of the commotion, however Kisa doesn't turn around to check._

_Whispering to his boyfriend, "What happened?"_

_"Your friend pulled out a book and the girl tried to grab it. Kisa-san, isn't it wrong to eavesdrop?"_

"Why do you have it?!" She pounds her fists on the table in anger as both penguins climb up the table to wipe away the spilled liquid.

"I don't know, ask my penguin."

_'Was that a dirty joke?!'_

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, it dropped it off in my bag." He flips through the pages of the diary and widens his eyes as he notices something. "Excuse me, is everything alright?" A worried waitress rushes over to see what's going on.

"Yes, sorry for the commotion, we'll be leaving now." He pulls out his wallet and pays for the drinks.

"We are?" Onodera puts away the diary, the papers, and puts on his coat.

"Yeah, there's something you need to see anyways. Follow me." He picks up his bag and gestures for her to follow him.

_'Could it be?!' they both wrongly assumed._

Leaving the restaurant they head to the direction of the train station. Leaving the two eavesdroppers who decide not to follow them. It's getting dark out and the streets have gotten crowded as people are getting around the busy city. The penguins and Masako keep close to Onodera so they won't get separated. They keep walking in silence until Onodera speaks, "You know, I've used the spell before."

"You know it?"

Solemnly looking up at the night sky, "Yeah, I've used it so many times I couldn't keep track of all the changes. What I remember most is the price to pay." The young man tries to recall his past wishes. He remembers most of them but for a few, all he gets is a blur.

"Price?"

"Heh, I figured you wouldn't know from what you've told me. Let me tell you something, it'd be better for you to just stick with what you saved."

"Why?"

"Rather than telling you, it'd be better to show you. From what the diary says, you were the one that made Mutou sensei quit."

"How did-"

"Didn't you know? This diary also predicts the future. However, it included the entry where it tells when I'm supposed to know."

"I had no idea..."

Ignoring her disbelief, "Come on, this looks like a good spot to show you." He points to the entrance of an alley up ahead. Little did she know that he started muttering the spell under his breath. He wanted to make sure that she didn't know the spell in case that she was still persistent. By the time they're in the alley, the spell takes effect. Onodera winces as flames spontaneously come alive, burning the back of his hand and up his arm. He kneels down, taking deep breaths behind the dumpster to make sure it goes unnoticed by the people walking by the alley.

"Ritsu!" She kneels down beside him and tries to tend to him.

"Don't, it'll wear off soon." He inches away from her so she won't touch him. Soon after, the fire wears off, leaving the back of his hand with a charred spot that's three inches in diameter. Panting, he holds his hand up and pulls back the undamaged sleeve to make sure Masako got a good look of the rest of his damaged arm. "See? This is the price to pay to give somebody their job back. The price will be far steeper if you bring the Kanba you want back."

Masako is in disbelief as she looks at the damage. What she didn't know was he actually made one more fate transfer along with Mutou's, just to make sure there is enough damage to deter Masako's plans. The reason he's willing to go this far is because he doesn't want to risk losing another friend to the diary.

While looking at the long burn, Masako recalls the records of Momoka Oginome. There was a case where she spontaneously caught on fire. She suffered third degree burns on about half of her body, however, she recovered at a ridiculous rate and she had no scarring. Masako can't exactly remember how fast it took, but she knew it was inhuman. Nobody ever discovered the reason why Momoka caught on fire, but Masako knows now, partially.

"Wait, what do you mean by the Kanba I want?"

"You're a smart girl, figure it out."

"Kyu..." His penguin got a matching burn on its right wing. Conveniently, Esmeralda has a first-aid kit and just finished tending to it.

Onodera uses his undamaged left arm to push himself off the ground and gets up to start walking out of the alley, with his penguin in tow.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Shouldn't you be going to a hospital?!"

He stops walking and turns around, cradling his right arm. "Don't worry, you should remember how fast I heal. I have a healing ability similar to Momoka's. The cursed fire is different than regular fire for me. Besides, I can't afford to skip work. Ah, one more thing, while I'm healing you can't touch the diary. If you do, you'll get punished as well." He turns away from the bewildered girl and leaves the alley. Knowing that she'll be fine by herself even at this time at night, Onodera makes for home. Going through the crowded streets of the dark city, he walks towards the train station, apologizing to the penguin. "Sorry, I guess we'll have to go another day."

"Kyu..."

* * *

_Some time later..._

Takano managed to leave work at a decent time after thrusting some of his remaining work on Mino. Mainly because of the off-hand comment about Onodera's author having a crush on him. However, he'll never say that's the reason. Given what Kisa mentioned, Takano tried looking around the area for Onodera but found nothing in the dark streets of the crowded city. In one area he walked by, he stepped back in surprise as he saw a bright flash of light. "What?!"

Covering his eyes with his arm, he waits until the light diminishes. Once his sight returns, he's bewildered to see a large amount of people in front of him. "When did they get here?" Stepping even further back he notices that the crowd formed a ring around a car. He goes up to the crowd to see what was going on but he couldn't beat through the tightly packed group. From what the people were muttering, there was a car bomb that failed to go off. Since it wasn't of any concern to him, he writes off the flash of light as coming from the car and he went around the crowd to keep on walking.

As he does more searching he tries calling but Onodera didn't pick up. Realizing that it's about time for the last train to come, he has no choice but to leave, hoping that Onodera is already at home. A meeting with the author surely couldn't take that long.

As he approaches the apartment building, he hears footsteps nearby. He stops when he sees the maid pacing outside of the apartment building and started walking in his direction. She didn't notice him since it was dark out and was preoccupied on her cellphone. He was about to approach her but the call ended and she bolted in the other direction.

"Damn..."

After seeing her run off, Takano dejectedly went inside. That was a good chance to find some answers and he blew it. After getting on the elevator and onto his floor, he went to knock on Onodera's door, but there was no response. This time, the door was locked so he can't get in. He tried using his cell phone again but there was no answer. Since he wasn't answering, he left a message. Throughout the night he kept sending messages asking if he was alright, but there was still no response. He can only hope that Onodera's inside and sound asleep. That wasn't the case.

Onodera is awake, in plenty of pain, and drinking lots of water. He's currently letting the penguin tend to his painfully blistering burns that he definitely doesn't want Takano to see. Before he came home, he found a drugstore that his penguin dragged him into. The penguin also knew first aid, so it picked what was best needed for the burns for him.

Since the deep second degree burns covered only 3% of his skin, via the Rule of Nines, the healing ability should be enough to keep his life out of danger. However, he knows that even with Momoka's healing ability, he'll have trouble covering up the damage. At the rate he's healing, it'll take over a day for the wound to heal. However, the only difference his healing ability has from Momoka's is that there will be scarring for a long period of time. He swallows two pills for his pain and takes another gulp of water before he wonders, "What am I going to do?"

"Kyu?" The penguin finished putting the bandages on his arm. He looks at the bandages and his eyes glance at the penguin's matching wing. Realizing what their connection is, he looks down at the floor in shame, bangs covering his eyes, muttering. "That was a stupid move, huh? I should've just told her and waited for her reaction. I'm sorry, I didn't know you would get hurt too..."

"Kyu..." The injured penguin nodded at his thoughts.

Popping his head back up in solemn realization, "But then again, it's better this way." He takes the diary out of his nearby bag and looks through it. The thing he noticed wasn't just the entry about Mutou. The content of the book is completely different from what he remembered. There was no mention of Momoka's childhood friends even though it was obvious that it had Momoka's handwriting. The book held more relation to Onodera's timeline. He narrowed his eyes as he read a page of the diary, "What happened Momoka?" One entry was what made Onodera decide to use the fate transfer.

Takano, along with several other people, were supposed to die today.


	6. Surprises

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I'm glad that people are taking interest in this story and I'm sorry for the wait. **

**This was partially due to the fact that I came up with some new ideas for the story and I wanted to wait until I got everything straight. **

**Plus I'm a procrastinator...**

**The updates will hopefully come in faster. But please review for me if you want me to continue this story. That's all I ask. :)**

**Minor edit: I realized an error I made on the season that the characters are in so I made the change from "April" to "October" in the chapter below. I hope nobody was too confused. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi or Mawaru Penguindrum.**

* * *

"Hey, did you hear? Somebody found a car bomb nearby."

"What?! Was anybody hurt?" A group of people gathered as the gossip was being relayed.

"No, apparently it failed to go off. For some reason it tried to detonate about twenty minutes before it was supposed to and it was found when the car was releasing smoke."

Rumors were flying around the office about the bomb. Many people have gotten wary since the bomb was found not too far from Marukawa. According to the news, the bomb was powerful enough to cause some major damage. There were some people who even decided to take the day off because of fear of another bomb nearby.

However, Takano's not paying much attention to it. He's more focused on weirdest thing that's walking around Emerald.

_What the hell?_

A pink penguin with a bandaged wing is pattering around collecting the books that were carelessly tossed aside around the office floor. After collecting the books, it went back to Emerald, put them into a stack and started reading. From what Takano can tell, it's going unnoticed by the other members of Emerald who already arrived.

Looking away from the penguin, Takano looks over his editors who seem unfazed by the bomb scare but notices that Onodera seems off. He's been looking weary even though hell week doesn't start for another two weeks. From what he can tell, Takano assumes that he had yet another nightmare, but he doesn't know that Onodera rarely slept last night due to the fact that after he cast the spell to get Mutou back along with saving Takano's and many others' lives from the deadly bomb, he had to deal with the intense pain of the long second degree burn on his arm.

Though he got pain killers, it took a while for them to work and even then, Onodera still had to deal with a large amount of pain from the second degree burn. In order to keep his mind off the pain, Onodera just ended up spending most of the night thinking about what else to tell Masako when they meet again because he knows she'll have more questions.

For now, Onodera is keeping a bottle of water nearby to keep himself hydrated due to the burn. The healing ability can only do so much so if he doesn't keep himself hydrated, he'll risk going into shock. Luckily, Takano does not draw suspicion when he sees Onodera wearing fingerless gloves. Since Onodera wanted to make sure the bandages on his hand and lower arm are covered so no one suspects anything, the gloves and sweater were the way to go.

However he'll have to make sure nobody touches his arm because the pain meds can only go so far. Even now he's feeling plenty of pain, more of his energy is devoted to keeping himself from moaning than from doing the work. Right now, he's contemplating on whether or not it'd be best to go to the hospital so he can at least get better pain medication. However, he knows they'll most likely make him stay if he goes and he doesn't want to deal with explaining how he got burned.

Besides, the burn should be healed in about a day's time. He'll have to find another drugstore with stronger pain meds if he's going to deal with this on his own for the rest of the day. If he can't, then he'll have to suck up his pride and ask Masako to use her connections for the pain meds.

He takes another gulp of water as he sullenly thought, _I really hope it doesn't come to that..._

He's snapped out of his thoughts and his pain is immediately ignored when Kisa dropped the bomb.

"Ricchan, I didn't know you had a girlfriend." Kisa told in a sing-song voice. This drew the attention of all the men of Emerald and some of the women of the other departments.

Onodera's first reaction was a spit take of his water, followed by coughing. As he coughed, he had to pound his chest before responding, "Hah?!" He immediately looks to his right to see Kisa curling his legs in his chair while resting his elbows on his knees with his hands supporting his chin.

Even though it looked like they could've been a couple, Kisa already figured out that they're just friends but he still found it to be fun to mess around with the brunet. He slyly bobs his head as he tells him, "Hehe, don't deny it Ricchan, I saw you with that girl at the cafe yesterday. From what you talked about, it looked like you knew each other for a while."

Immediately trying to fix the situation, Onodera defensively puts up his arms as he tells, "Y-you've got the wrong idea, we're just friends, and she just wanted to ask about an old friend of mine. Umm... how much did you hear?" If Kisa listened to Masako's story, there'd be more problems.

"I came in around her talking about you remembering that girl's brother, knowing some girl named Momoka, and you two were arguing over a book before you left together."

"Ah, I see." While Onodera is relieved that his coworker didn't hear anything important, he failed to realize the rising anger of his boss. While Takano was worrying about him yesterday, Onodera was out with a girl. Onodera's going to be getting an earful tonight.

"Onodera, before you start half-assing and going on dates, you should focus on your current authors so they won't end up like Mutou." Takano angrily told. However became confused when he saw his subordinate's shocked expression. Onodera was sure that the spell had worked, he had the burns to prove it, so he couldn't understand why Takano remembered.

Kisa turned around as he was also confused, "Eh? What happened to Mutou sensei?"

"What do you mean 'What happened?' she dis-" Takano was cut off by a telephone's ringing. Onodera quickly turns around in his seat and picks up the phone.

"Hello, this is Marukawa Publishing, this is Onodera Ritsu speaking."

_This is Mutou speaking._

Onodera held an internal sigh of relief as he found that she really is back. _"_Ah, Mutou sensei, how can I help you?"

As Onodera discusses with Mutou sensei, Takano is at his seat looking at him with a bewildered expression. He was sure that Mutou had quit and disappeared off the face of the earth. He was there with Onodera as she made the phone call to quit and all contact with her was shut off afterward. To make sure it wasn't a case of depression due to her manga, Takano managed call to Mutou's family but even they shut him off saying that there was no way she was going back to her manga.

Getting more frustrated by the second, Takano gets up to go to the break room to buy some coffee from the vending machine. When he gets to the vending machine, he fishes around his pockets for his wallet, "Where is it?" he stops searching when he hears, "Kyu?" and looks down to see the pink penguin from before holding up Takano's wallet.

He stares at it for a good thirty seconds before finally answering, "... Thanks," and he crouched down to get the wallet from the penguin.

He stands back up and puts the money in the machine to order the coffee. When the can falls down the slot and is picked up, he turns to see the penguin still standing in the same place and staring back at him. "Kyu?"

_What. The. Hell?_

"Masamune?" The deep voice of Yokozawa causes Takano to snap his head up. Yokozawa only came to the break room to get a drink from the machine. He had no idea that Takano was already there. Walking into the break room, the blue eyed man can immediately tell that something's off, "What's wrong?"

Laying it out flatly, Takano points down at the penguin, "Yokozawa, do you have any idea what's up with this penguin?" Yokozawa looks down at the penguin, but in his eyes, he sees nothing. Worried, Yokozawa steps forward and presses his hand past Takano's hair and onto his forehead, checking for a fever.

"What are you doing?" Takano bats away his hand and looks down when he hears pattering, to see that the penguin is gone. "I was checking for a fever. But it looks like your temperature's normal." Even though Yokozawa has a lover, it doesn't excuse the fact that he'll worry over a dear friend.

"I'm not sick, there was definitely... never mind." Seeing that there was no point in arguing about something that Yokozawa obviously can't see, he switches the subject. Noticing that none of his editors remembered what happened to Mutou, he hoped that at least Yokozawa would remember.

"Oh yeah, did you remember what I told you about Mutou a while ago?"

He slightly tilts his head in confusion as he tries to remember. However, he too, has no recollection. "Did you say something about her? I don't really remember, only that her sales have gone up recently. Why?"

Seeing that Yokozawa also has no recollection of Mutou's disappearance. He briefly assumes that he's being messed with, but looking his coworker in the eye immediately lets him know that he's not being lied to. "Never mind."

* * *

_Some time later..._

Onodera left work late that October night, but early enough for him to find another drugstore and heads off to Marimo books before the last train. Before leaving work, he managed to go the bathroom to pop two more pills of pain meds. So for now, he can manage the pain but he's still walking through the streets with a water bottle in hand because he knows he can't risk going into shock on the street. Onodera managed to find another drugstore in the area but they didn't sell any stronger pain killers so he just ended up buying some more bottled water.

Exiting the drugstore, he failed to realize that he was spotted by Takano, who decided not to show himself and just follow him for now. He was shocked to see the penguin that disappeared from the office earlier is now with Onodera, however he assumes that Onodera can't see it until he spots them standing in front of a food market.

Onodera looks down and shakes his head at the penguin before raising his right arm for an unknown reason. The penguin looks down in depression but looks back up with sparkly eyes after Onodera mutters something incoherent.

As they continue down the crowded street, Takano is on their tail muttering, "So it's not just me..." After walking for another ten minutes, Takano sees them walking into the large store that is Marimo books. Following them into the oversized store, he loses them but there were few people around since it's late at night so it became easy to spot them as he saw them going through the literature section of the store.

Walking past the aisles, he spots the bandaged penguin sitting on a large stack of books, just reading through one of them. The penguin takes note of his presence but keeps on reading anyway. Takano's eyes look over the plethora of books to see that they're books by Esmeralda. Until recently, he's never really bothered with her books since he preferred the older books that could only be found in libraries. The only reason he started reading them was because he wanted to see what kind of credibility she would have as a shoujo mangaka.

He's snapped out of his thoughts when he hears the sound of books pounding on the floor followed by an 'Ouch,' in a nearby aisle. Rushing over to the aisle, he sees several books on the floor and Onodera standing on a step ladder, rubbing the top of his head where he most likely got hit by a book.

Deciding to reveal himself to the klutz, "What the hell are you doing?" Takano walks over and crouches down to pick up the dropped books. "Takano-san?"

Onodera hadn't expected that Takano would be here. Not wanting to create more problems, he'd hoped to avoid him as long as possible until the burn healed. Finally realizing that he'd been staring for over a minute, Onodera hastily stepped down to take the books out of Takano's arms, "…Well, I just wanted to look around for some books."

"I see…" He crosses his arms against his chest as he watches the shorter man get back up on the stool to put the books back on the tall shelf. As he watches him put them back, he notices there's something off with Onodera's right arm when he flinched from moving it too fast. He was about to saying something when Onodera came down but stopped himself when he saw the penguin standing behind Onodera, holding a book.

Hoping what he assumed is true, he points at the penguin and bluntly asks, "Onodera, do you know what's up with that penguin?" He waits as he sees his beloved's beautiful eyes widen and turns around to see the penguin. He turns back and asks, "You can see it too?"

* * *

_On the train..._

The train ride home was silent for the most part. Most of the passengers have fallen asleep in their seats with Takano, Onodera, and his penguin as the exception. Onodera had already explained as much as he could about where the penguin came from, saying it was in the package Esmeralda's assistant was talking about, but she wasn't the one who sent it, and that nobody else could see it.

However, he doesn't know the reason why Takano can see it or why he was immune to the spell. He knows the spell took effect since he's still suffering from the burns. The pain killers he took earlier are starting to wear off and their effect will probably be gone in an half an hour or so. He knows he'll have to find a way to throw off Takano before they get to the building so he won't find out.

Trying to take his mind off the large amount of pain, Onodera looks over to his side and slightly chuckles when he sees the penguin sitting next to him and engrossed in the book he bought for it.

He whips his head around when Takano asks, "So, why doesn't it have a name yet?" In the light of the train, Takano can see that Onodera has gotten significantly paler, which was due to the oncoming pain of his arm.

"Uh, well, I haven't decided on a name yet. I've thought of one, but I'm not sure if it'll like it."

"What is it?"

"Gabriel."

"Gabriel? An English name?"

Onodera gives off a warm smile of nostalgia as he looks back on his memories. "Yeah, to me it just fits. Actually, it's the name of one of my favorite characters from an old book I used to read when I was little. Heh, an old friend of mine used to compare me to the main character of the book. Even though I thought it was embarrassing, no matter what she did, she always managed to put a smile on my face..."

Slightly blushing, he stops himself, _Geh! Why the hell am I telling him that?!_

He hastily looks down and warmly asks the penguin, "So, how do you feel about 'Gabriel'?"

The penguin happily nods followed by a, "Kyu"

Slightly pissed off at Onodera's apparent closeness with a girl, he bluntly asks, "Was she the 'girlfriend' you met with last night?"

Snapping out of his awkwardness, Onodera lifts his head up and fiercely looks him dead in the eye to show he's not lying, "Look, like I said before, she's just a friend. And no, it was a different friend."

Slightly taken aback by the seriousness of his tone, "Was it the chick Kisa mentioned earlier at work? Momoka, was it?"

"Yeah… my friend wanted to know more about Momoka since she found out I knew her."

"Why would she ask you? Wouldn't it be better for her to ask the girl herself for whatever she wanted to know?" Takano felt that the reason why the girl most likely came to Onodera was not the reason the girl says. He knows how oblivious Onodera can be about the hidden intentions people can carry. However, he was wrong.

Not wanting to talk about what happened, he dodges the question, "… It's kind of complicated."

Sensing his discomfort, the older man shrugs and decides to let him off for now, "I'm not going to ask for the details, but I want you to remember that you have to focus on your work. Just because you lived the easy life doesn't mean you can start half-assing your work."

The brunet slightly flinches at the mention of 'easy life'. Unconsciously cradling his damaged right arm, a shadow cast over his emerald eyes as Onodera looks away and hides his face under his bangs. "….."

_Living the easy life… you have no idea… _

"Onodera?"

* * *

Leaving the train station in awkward silence, Onodera makes a quick stop at the convenience store to buy tonight's dinner. He knew that Gabriel wanted to make dinner again but seeing as Gabriel is most likely in pain as well, Onodera figured it'd be better to buy dinner for tonight. Figuring that it'd be better to get fish for Gabe, he ends up buying pre-made sushi for both of them.

Taking as much time as possible, his hopes of Takano walking ahead of him while in the store had failed as he stuck around waiting for him to make his purchase. With his left hand holding both bags containing the sushi and bottled water he bought earlier, Onodera tried marching ahead of the taller man when they left to go to their apartment building, however he felt his body getting weaker, so he had to slow down. He wanted to drink more water but he put the bottle in his bag so he could carry the stuff he bought.

Figuring now was as good a time as any, Takano asks, "Onodera, there's something I want to know. What exactly happened to Mutou?"

Halting in his tracks, Onodera panics as he tries to lie. "What? Mutou? What do you mean? Everything is perfectly fine!"

Obviously not buying his subordinate's words, the dark haired man crossed his arms as he narrows his amber eyes. Now he's definitely sure that Onodera knows something. "Uh-huh. Last time I checked she was supposed to have vanished off the face of the earth after she called you to quit. From what I could tell, everybody knew up until today. Now, everybody acts as if it never happened. Care to explain?"

He waits as he watches the nervous brunet's gaze fixate on the ground. Onodera immediately considers what to do with this since it's obvious that Takano's somehow immune to the fate transfers.

_Should I tell him or not?_

After about a minute of walking out in the cool night air he finally comes to his decision. As they come near the apartment building, Onodera takes a deep breath before looking up and huffing out, "Well, you see-"

As they start to walk through the building's front entrance, Onodera interrupts himself when he immediately senses a foreign presence behind them and quickly turns around, "Wha…?!" to step back in fright to be in surprisingly close proximity with a stranger towering over him.

"Onodera?" Takano turns around to see that they failed to notice a shaggy looking, dark skinned man in a gray suit right behind them. "Sorry for scaring you, you must be Onodera Ritsu."

"Huh? Yes, that's me," As soon as he replies, the stranger gives the green eyed man a business card. Looking over the brunet's shoulder, Takano reads the card to find that the man is a reporter. "A tabloid?"

"I'm interviewing the families of that incident's victims. I figured since you're one of the youngest survivors, you'd be perfect for an interview. Oh yeah, does the name 'Momoka Oginome' ring any bells?"

_Incident? Survivors? Momoka? That girl he mentioned earlier?_

Quickly going even paler at the mention of the incident and Momoka, the young man slightly takes a step back out of instinct. "W-why… are you asking me that?"

Ignoring Onodera's obvious uneasiness, the man continues on, with a glint in his eyes, "You two are such a big scoop. I've been looking through the investigation reports but it seems that after all these years nobody's come close to finding that girl's body. Actually, another reason I wanted to interview you was because you were the last person who was spotted with her before she disappeared."

"… Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh yeah, do you remember when they announced the lead that was found on the culprits?"

"…Yeah, but that was announced almost four years ago and besides, I heard the Takakuras went missing. Did something happen?" Pulling out two photographs, the reporter hands them over to the solemn brunet.

Completely lost in the conversation, Takano was about to say something but stopped when he heard Onodera gasp out, "…What?! They're dead?" Looking over the brunet's shoulder, Takano makes a double take when he sees the graphic photo of two decomposing corpses and another photo showing a close-up of the name tag on one of the corpses reading, "K. Takakura"

"Yeah, somebody found the bodies of the suspects months ago. It seems that they've been dead for several years but as of now there hasn't been an official cause of death yet. As you can see, their rotting corpses were just found piled on top of each in a run-down ramen shop in Ogikubo." As the man spoke, Onodera slightly shuddered.

_This feeling… crap…_

_I-it's... coming back…_

Neither of the two taller men had noticed that brunet had gotten paler than when he was on the train, "Heh, scum like them had it coming. Now, all that's left is for that girl's body to turn up. It'd be another scoop. So, what do you think? You want to do the interview? " As he was saying this, the reporter failed to notice the young brunet clenching his teeth in irritation followed by tightly gripping the sides of the photos.

Gathering up the photos and the business card, Onodera angrily hands them back to the reporter, hissing out, "NO. WAY. IN. HELL. People like you disgust me."

_I have to hurry…_

_Body, don't fail me now! _With a burst of adrenaline and ignoring the cries of his body, Onodera and Gabriel catch Takano and the reporter off guard by bolting into the apartment building and somehow magically manage to beat Takano to the lobby's closing elevator.

Gasping for breath as he leans against the wall of the elevator, Onodera can hear a pound against the closed doors followed by a muffled, "Onodera!" before the elevator started climbing for the twelfth floor.

Onodera is safe for now but he puts his bags down so he can search for his house keys before he gets to his floor. By the time they're on the eleventh floor, he finds his keys and holds them in his right hand as he picks up the bags with his left.

When the doors open on the twelfth floor, they rush out to see another plastic bag in front of Onodera's door.

_What now?!_

Knowing he doesn't have much time until Takano gets up here, Onodera ignores the bag for a moment as he unlocks his door.

Tossing both bags of bottled water and sushi inside, he goes back out to pick up the mysterious bag and ushers his penguin inside before Takano shows up. Once they're inside, Onodera makes sure to lock the door before taking off his shoes and lugging all of the bags into the now lit living room.

Once he places all of the bags on the table, he looks through the plastic bag that he found outside, and sees that it has several tins of canned fish, a bottle of strong pain killers, and another bottle of antibiotics. Seeing all of this, Onodera immediately knew it most likely came from Masako. Overly eager to take the pain killer, he realizes that he needs to eat before taking one. Going through his next bag, Onodera takes out the sushi he bought and gives one tin of it to the penguin before opening his own.

Wanting to get rid of the pain as quickly as possible, he ignores the persistent pounding at his front door and swiftly devours all of the sushi before grabbing a bottle of water and twisting open the bottle of pain killers. Looking at the pills in the white plastic bottle, he almost forgets to check the dosage listed on the side of the bottle. Lifting it up to eye level and reading the prescription, Onodera can tell that one pill is all he needs before the burn heals.

"Here goes." He swallows a pill followed by taking a swig of water. Waiting for the pill to take effect, he figures that his bandaged arm needs some air so he pulls off the glove that was hiding his bandaged hand and sluggishly takes off his sweater before tossing both of them onto his couch. Clad in only his navy blue t-shirt and jeans, he slowly starts unwrapping the bandages and is pleased to see that the burn is healing pretty well.

All of the blisters have gone along with most of the swelling and redness. Obviously free of infection, all that's left is for the burn to close with the scar. At this rate he'll be healed by tomorrow morning. After surveying his burn, he checks up on Gabriel who just finished the sushi. "Kyu"

Gabe already unwound the bandages off of his pink wing to show that he now has a white scar the shape of an upside down lollipop that extends to both ends of the right wing. Wincing at the site of the scar, Onodera mumbles another apology before slowly taking both empty plastic tins and dropping them in the trash can in his kitchen. He drowsily comes back to seeing Gabriel sitting on the couch and continuing in reading the book that Onodera bought for him earlier.

Onodera joins Gabriel on the couch and relaxes as he lets the pain killers finally do their work. He sighs in relief as the familiar feeling he had when he was outside faded away.

_That was a close call… looks like I'm safe for now._

_But… I guess my curse… my punishment… isn't over… _

Wanting to sleep in the euphoria of the pain killers, he ignores the sound of the incoming call from a most likely worried Takano. Leaving the living room light on, he succumbs to the darkness of his closed eyelids, and before drifting away he silently murmurs, "I'm sorry, sempai."

* * *

**A/N: Yes... I gave his penguin an English name, but I do have a reason for it. Sorry if the reporter scene seemed awkward, but I wanted the story to start picking up. Next chapter, I'll be adding a quote from the book Ritsu's was referencing which will answer the questions:**

**What's the title of the book? **

**Why did Momoka compare him to the main character?**

**Why did he pick the name 'Gabriel'?**

**Teaser: Next chapter you'll find out what he considers his curse/punishment. **

**Please Review! :D**


	7. His Survival Strategy: Memories

**A/N: So sorry for the long update! I said I was going to be faster, but it turned out I wasn't... Well, I still managed to update! Below is the quote from the book I was referring to in the previous chapter. The vast majority of you should remember this old book and its basic storyline. If not, you can look it up for a brief summary to understand why Momoka related Ritsu to the main character. Plus where I got the name Gabriel from. :D**

**Warning: I'm introducing OCs in the future. One is brought in for this chapter and another is mentioned but won't appear until later.**

**Extra Warning: Sorry for any errors or mistakes. I don't have a beta-reader...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mawaru Penguindrum or Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.**

_"You will be faced, now, with pain of a magnitude that none of us here can comprehend because it is beyond our experience."  
― Lois Lowry, The Giver_

* * *

_Opening his eyes to reveal dim emeralds, the boy looks at the finely carved ceiling before asking himself, "Where am I?" His eyes gazed around the bright western room to find that there was not a soul nearby. The bed he's on is rather oversized for a person of his age and seems to be more suited for an adult. Shifting his gaze out to the left, he sees that it's most likely morning when he notices the warm sunlight beaming through the oversized window into the room._

_He tries to sit up but finds that with his aching body, he doesn't have the energy to lift his arms. So instead, he surveys the arms that are currently resting over the warm yellow sheets to see that they're all bandaged up. On his scarred right arm is a needle that was inserted into his skin and had a wire that connected to the intravenous bag on the pole next to his bed. Behind the pole was a nightstand that was empty except for a single apple, completely unmarked._

_"I was…" He weakly murmured._

_"Good, you're awake." A female voice called out and he looks away from the nightstand to see someone coming from the door across from the room. As he watches the figure come forward, his vision blurs up so he couldn't tell what the person looked like._

_"Who-"_

* * *

"Uhhh…." Ritsu woke up to the sound of his living room's fax machine. Sluggishly shifting around the couch, he realizes that he held a drowsy Gabriel in his arms. Slowly getting up, Ritsu looks around the currently dark living room and recalls that he let himself succumb to the pain killers before conking out on the couch. Walking into his room, Ritsu gently put the sleeping pink penguin down on the bed, and covered Gabriel with the blanket before leaving the room.

_Ugh, why does my body feel so heavy…?_

Ritsu staggered across the living room to turn on the lights and checked the fax machine to see that Mutou sent in her storyboard. Taking the storyboard out and going back to his couch, he places the storyboard and looks through his bag for his phone to check what time it is. Flipping open his phone, he ignores the multitude of messages and missed calls from his boss but his green eyes widen when he sees that it's seven o' clock in the morning.

_Wait, what?!_

He does a double take when he realizes that he doesn't have much time until the early train comes. He originally wanted to take the early train because he wanted to stay away from Masamune until he sorted out how to explain what happened to Mutou and what the incident the reporter was referring to.

He couldn't exactly say that because of Masako forcing her to disappear he had to use magic to bring her back. Nope, that sort of excuse just doesn't work on a grown man. He could use the burn scar on his arm as proof of the spell but then he'd have to explain many other things.

He would've simply told him about the incident right after talking to the reporter but after hearing that man talk like that, he definitely did not want to bring up the past.

Shoving the storyboard into his bag, Ritsu quickly took a shower and managed to get his clothes on about twenty minutes before his train arrived. Coming into the living room, he spots Gabriel awake and ready to go. Since there was no time to have breakfast, Ritsu grabbed an energy drink from the refrigerator before he picked up his bag and started for the door. However, before he made it down to his door, he noticed the dark brown burn scar on his hand.

_Crap…_

Even though the sweater he wore covered the burn scar on his arm, it failed to conceal the rest of it that spread to the back of his hand. Running back in the living room, he spots Gabriel at the end of the hallway holding the gray fingerless gloves in his wings. "Kyu" Gabriel patters over and lifts the gloves above his head. "Ah, thank you." Ritsu takes both gloves and puts them on.

All ready to go with the concealed scar, Ritsu and Gabriel are about to charge out of the front door but are caught off guard when the door opens to reveal a tall figure looming over him.

"When are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?" Masamune's serious tone spikes a shudder down Ritsu's spine. Trying to play dumb, "O-oh, you mean with Mutou sensei?" The strategy doesn't work when Masamune grabs the door to keep the brunet from closing it on him.

Pushing inside, Masamune manages to get them both back into the apartment and grabs both of Ritsu's wrists so he won't get away. Worry is present in his voice as he tells him, "You know what I'm talking about. Let me help you, I don't want you to hide anything." His concern sends a pang to the brunet's chest as he presses on.

He presses Ritsu against the wall of the entrance's hallway. Refusing to say anything, Ritsu lets his hair cover his eyes as his gaze fixates on the ground. Holding both wrists above the submissive man's head with one hand, Masamune uses his other hand to lift up Ritsu's dainty chin.

Piercing amber meets solid emerald. Not wanting to explain anything yet, Ritsu decides to not open his mouth anymore. After about a minute long staring contest, the taller man notices that Ritsu's eyes suddenly widen and his body shudders for a moment. "Onodera?"

_This feeling, it's coming back…_

_…Crap!_

Snapping out of it, the young man starts his attempts to break free of Masamune's hold. "Let me go!" The amber eyed man grows confused as he struggles to deal with his subordinate's newfound strength. Ritsu grows frantic as the feeling gets stronger and manages break of the larger man's grasp.

He hisses out, "Stay away from me!" before taking a step away from the confused older man. "Onodera, what's wrong with you?"

"Just… go ahead of me, I have something to take care of first."

He reaches out to the younger man but is shocked when he finds himself with a reddening cheek as the sound of the slap rings throughout the apartment. Slightly wincing to what he had just done to the raven haired man, Ritsu takes another step back and desperately shouts. "…Get out!"

To his surprise even Gabriel tried to usher the man out the door by pushing at one of his legs. Giving up for now, Masamune angrily huffs out, "Fine, be that way. " and turns to leave. Slightly raising his hand to reach out to him, "Takano-san..." Ritsu's chest aches as he watches Masamune head out the door.

As soon as he hears the door click shut, the weakened young man balls his fist and slams it against the wall, pressing against it. "Dammit…" Leaning against the wall, his breathing becomes labored as his eyes start glazing over. He could feel his strength quickly disappearing. Pressure starts forming all around him. His vision blurs up with dots floating all around as he starts gasping for breath. Beads of sweat formed on his pale forehead as he painfully panted out, "Thank goodness… he's safe…"

"This is… my punishment… my curse… mine alone… gah…!" With another burst of pressure, he falls to his knees, and fell forward to the hardwood floor with a thud. Turning to his side, Ritsu lets the pressure flow all over his cold body as he feels himself going into shock. "Ah…" He knew the shock was not because of the burn since it was healed, it was because of something else.

Letting the involuntary vibrations run its course through his body, he sluggishly looks over next to him, where his now dull green eyes notice Gabriel lying right next to him, slightly faded. "Kyu…"

Panting out, "You… don't have… to come with me…" He slightly smiles as the stubborn pink penguin shakes its head. Rubbing its scarred wing against the man's forehead, "Kyu…" His eyes slightly widen but warmly narrow again as tears flow out of the brunet's weary eyes, trickling down onto the penguin's head.

"Thank you…"

Still shaking, he pulls out his phone and looks through the contact list, looking for the one person he knows who can help. As soon as he finds the number, he presses the call button and presses the phone to his ear. As soon as he hears the other line pick up, he weakly calls out, "Help… they're back…" before dropping the phone back on the floor. Before letting himself get completely overwhelmed he weakly called out a familiar spell.

**"Survival... Strategy…"**

* * *

_Emerald World..._

His chestnut brown hair floating around the frame of his face, Ritsu could feel himself sinking downwards. Twisting himself around as he lets his open jacket levitate around him, he reluctantly welcomed the familiar glittering dark space that played host to the brunet's own world. Floating towards the large spherical astrolabe of dim glass, Ritsu solemnly spoke out, "It's been a long time, hasn't it? Over eleven years…"

Noticing the contours of their bodies glowing green, he knows what he has to do.

He smoothly glides toward the oversized orb below and takes a deep breath. It's been so long since he's been here that it's no wonder that this world stopped functioning. Even though it initially saved him, this place has been the source of so much of his pain and suffering that it's no surprise that he stopped using it. Knowing what would most likely happen if his boss had stuck around, he was grateful that he came alone.

In order to get out of here, he knows he has to submit. "…Initiating the Survival Strategy."

Pressing his hands against the stone cold glass, he felt his own core surge. Looking down at his chest, he watches as the orb of his soul unleashes a brilliant emerald. The agonizingly beautiful light spread to the glass beneath his hands. He felt the vibrations of the glass come through his arms as his life spread through his previously empty world. Regaining its original light, he jumped upwards and floated there as he watched the whirring astrolabe start up.

Watching his world coming back to its usual life, he raised up his right hand to test his assumptions. He fluttered his fingers as some sparks flew out but nothing else happened. _I really can't leave here… can't I?_

"Kyu…" Holding Gabriel close to his chest, the green eyed man let himself get pulled in as he's blinded by the bright, pale green light. He's slightly surprised as he notices the loss of Gabriel's presence but remembers that this is normal.

Floating downwards, the sounds of traffic and the occasional car horn are heard as Ritsu hovers over a busy street. Ritsu opens his emerald green eyes to meet the blackness of the night sky illuminated by the orange glow of the streetlights. Twisting over, he skillfully maneuvers himself upright as he lands. He checks around to find himself on an overhead bridge somewhere in downtown Tokyo.

"Kyu" Hearing Gabriel, followed by the sound of a shutter, he turns to find Gabriel not too far away with a camera. _Where the hell did he get a camera?_

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he looks around the newfound scenery. Pressing against the railing of the bridge, Ritsu watches as all the cars in the street below under the bridge ride out of his side before seeing their backlights disappear into the street's horizon. Judging from the scenery of the urban setting, what the people are wearing as they walk down the sidewalks, and what the car models on the street are, it looks like he didn't jump back too far in time.

"What time is it?" He asked himself before he mentally face palmed. "I'm an idiot! I have a phone dammit!" The young man pulls out his phone to see that it's December… of last year. "Oh, it's almost a year ago."

He looks away from his phone as he hears the sound of someone walking up onto the bridge followed by pattering. He almost drops his phone as the silhouette of the strangers lifts to reveal someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Kanba?!"

Knowing that it's impossible that Kanba could hear or see him since this is only a past event Ritsu is seeing, the brunet just stands in shock as the teenage redhead leans against the railing of the bridge and directs his gaze over to a gray car parked on the side of the street. Ritsu takes note of Penguin #1 but doesn't pay much attention to him.

As Kanba pulls out his phone to dial an unknown number, Ritsu looks him over. The last time Ritsu had seen him was over four years ago and it was obvious that he had grown up so much in that time span. His once warmhearted pale green eyes have taken on an essence of determination. He seems a little beat up as if he got into a fight, but the damage seems to be only minor bruises. Standing next to him, Ritsu can tell that even though he's leaning over, if he stood up straight, they'd about the same height.

_He looks just like his dad…_

Chuckling at his appearance, "Heh, the first time I've seen you in four years, and you look like you got into a fight."

Another thing that Ritsu realized was that since Kanba is present in this event, then Ritsu is watching a separate timeline from his own. After all, according to Masako, the current timeline he lives in is where Kanba no longer exists…

"What the hell is he doing?"

"Yes, that's the one. Do it."

"Huh?" Just then, Ritsu felt the rumble of a large truck going underneath the bridge. His eyes widen in shock as the truck crashes into the parked car at full force. _Kanba… did he just…?_

"Kyu" Gabriel snaps Ritsu out of his shock by tugging at his pant leg and pointing at the stairs to go down to the street. Reluctant to go down, Ritsu follows the pink penguin's lead towards the car wreck and as he gets closer, he realizes that there's a bloody arm sticking out of the window. He steps back in shock when he notices the tacky watch on the wrist and realizes that the man that was killed was the nosy reporter he met yesterday.

As he surveys the damage, he takes note of Gabriel taking the pictures of the wreck and the truck.

_Wait, the truck?_

As he looks up at the slightly damaged truck, he takes note of KIGA group's penguin symbol on the side of the truck. "So he really did stay with them…" He sullenly tells himself. It didn't take much time to realize that Kanba was the one to order the truck driver to kill the reporter.

"Wait, this event took place about a year ago."

"But Takano-san and I met that reporter yesterday." Gabriel nodded at his statement.

"So if what Masako said was true, then the reason Kanba doesn't exist anymore and that man is alive really is because somebody used the spell…"

"Kanba!" At this outburst, Ritsu turns to find the source. His eyes widen as they fall on the blue haired, somewhat beaten up, teenage boy followed by a blue penguin.

Realizing who it is, he exclaims. "Shouma?!"

Before he could do anything else, Ritsu winced as the scenery was wiped away by a white light and he found himself in another past event.

_I really have no control… _

_Please hurry, I don't want to see anymore…_

Having experienced this many times before, Ritsu is aware that the only way to get out of here is to either wait out for all of the events to play out or to remember how to get out. However, for some reason, he can't seem to remember. It should've been like remembering how to ride a bike, never to forget, but for some reason this is not the case. Since this is the situation, he's most likely stuck in the past events until his body snaps out of it, which could take who knows how long given the severity of his shock.

"Where the hell is he?" At the sound of a familiar deep voice, Ritsu flinches as he turns to see Masamune right in front of him. Obviously, since this is another past event, the amber eyed man isn't aware of Ritsu's presence.

"Takano-san?"

Looking around, he finds himself in a familiar area of the city, which isn't too far away from Marukawa. Checking his phone, he takes note that it's only two days into the past. When he realizes where he is and what he'll most likely see, Ritsu starts to panic.

He gets even more frantic as he watches Masamune walking in the direction of where the car bomb was. Even though he knows it's pointless, he runs up and tries to grab the tall man but his hand just phases right through him. In his haste, he trips over his own feet but catches himself as he lands on his knees.

_Don't…!_

His silent plea went unanswered as the explosion occurred and felt his body reverberate but held no damage. Sounds of the bloodcurdling screams followed by bodies hitting the ground with many thuds struck chills down the young man's spine. Hearing the sounds of the moaning victims, he opens his eyes to a complete bloodbath. Some people had portions of their bodies charred while others simply did not move. Slowly walking through the damaged urban area, Ritsu winces in remorse as he sees a bloody victim begging to be saved, followed by more bodies. Sections of the street were leveled as they stemmed away from where the car bomb was.

The street had turned into a complete warzone.

"Takano-san…!" He gasped out as he found the black haired man lying in a puddle of blood on the sidewalk. Rushing to his side, he surveys the damage. His burns had spanned from the left side of his chin fanning out through the left side of his torso where some of the fabric of his coat was burned away. Blood poured out of the holes in his stomach where the metal shrapnel was embedded. Regaining consciousness, he began coughing up blood. "Rit… su…"

"No… no… please… no…" Tears were coming to Ritsu's eyes as he watched his beloved's beautiful brown eyes go dull as he went into shock. The green eyed man started breaking down as Masamune drew his last breath. Ritsu couldn't even close the man's once beautiful eyes as they emptily stared into space.

"Please… hurry…" He pleaded solemnly. "I don't want to see any more of this…"

The depressed man is slightly surprised as he felt a soft wing on his scarred hand. "Kyu…" Looking to his side, Ritsu found the pink penguin trying to comfort him. His body slightly shook as he quivered out, "…You knew about my curse and that it was going to come back and show me this today, didn't you? You also knew what might've happened if Takano-san came with me." He clenched his trembling fist.

"You also knew that I can't remember how to control this place. That's why you came with me?" He trembled even more. "You didn't want me to be alone?"

"Kyu…" After nodding its body, the teary eyed young man turns and dives at the penguin for a big hug. Holding Gabriel close, Ritsu unleashes the water works as he sputters out, "T-thank you s-so m-much…!"

The pink penguin shifts a little bit as it stretches out its wing to rub away the tears flowing down Ritsu's cheeks. He smiles at the sentiment and after about a minute, the brunet manages to calm down. "Sorry about that, I guess I got over emotional there…"

Even though he had plenty of these types of visions in his childhood, he'll never be able to get over the feeling of watching people die before his eyes. It's not the sight of blood or the guts or the bodies that get to him. He's seen plenty of it in his childhood to not even flinch at it.

It's the fact that no matter what past time period he jumps through, he will always be forced to watch the life fade away from innocent people's eyes. There will be people that will lose their lives because of another's actions. All he can do is watch the people bound by fate suffer….

Knowing about them since he was little, he knew that even if a fate transfer occurs, it's still possible to watch the events of what occurred beforehand.

Blinded by a bright flash of light, Ritsu covers his eyes as the scene reforms itself and he finds himself standing at the same spot he was at before. He checks his phone for the time and it turns out he's still two days in the past.

At the sound of the footsteps approaching, he turns around to see Masamune again but still alive. "Where the hell is he?"

_Am I going to see the same thing again…?_

As Masamune starts walking in the direction of the car bomb, Ritsu again tries to grab him, knowing it's pointless. "Kyu…" Gabriel tugs at his leg letting him know there's nothing he can do. Tears start flowing down his cheeks again as he watches his love walking towards his doom.

"Y-you idiot! Don't you dare die on me again!"

"….If- if you stop walking, I-I'll say 'I l-love you'! So please… don't go…"

"…"

"…I love you."

"I love you…"

"I love you so much, dammit!"

His declaration of love fell on deaf ears as he watched Masamune walk. His gaze fell to the ground as he thought that there was nothing else he could do. All he could do was wait for it to be over. "Why? Why am I being shown this again?"

He pounded his gloved fist against the pavement. "I've already taken your punishment so why the hell do I have to watch this?!"

Just then, the flames sprung to life. "Ngh…!" Consuming his right arm, the scorpion's fire served as a repeat of the spell that was cast. He painfully clutched his arm as it burned.

"What?!" Masamune's confused yell lifted the burning brunet's gaze as he saw another flash of light. The brunet found himself in shock as he found himself in Takano's shadow as he shielded his eyes.

"The fate transfer?" _This was the fate transfer timeline?_

As soon as the flash of light cleared out, the scorpion's fire was gone and Ritsu clutched his arm and watched as the confused black haired man stood behind a crowd of people. Ritsu found himself in even more shock when he realized it.

_He can see the fate transfers?!_

As soon as he walks away, Ritsu gasps as he finds the scenery unfolding and falls into pitch blackness. Feeling his body tip backwards, the brunet can feel himself floating downwards headfirst. Holding Gabriel close, he relaxes as he hears the familiar sound of classical music playing.

_She made it…_

* * *

_In the meantime…_

A certain frazzled brunette is in Ritsu's apartment watching over his body. When she got the phone call earlier that morning, she was shocked to hear the young man's weakened voice. She had feared the worst when she showed up at his door, finding it unlocked, and opening it to reveal his collapsed form.

It had been over a decade since something like this had happened to Ritsu. She was already aware of his unstable power for a long time due to an incident that happened when he was young but seeing him like this was a reminder of what happened when he was a teenager…

"How much longer does he have to suffer like this?" She solemnly asked as she gently ran her hand through his silky hair. A pang went through her chest as she saw his mouth slightly parted and his eyes clenched shut as if he was in pain. She already managed to lug his body to his room and put his headphones on to keep his consciousness calm as he jumped through the past.

Hearing the sound of a phone ringing, she turns toward the sound of Ritsu's cell phone ringing on the nightstand. Picking it up, she reads the caller I.D, stating **'Takano Masamune'**

She put on a small smile. "Ritsu… even after all these years you still love him…" Knowing that the man is aware of her stalking, she decides to ignore the incoming call and puts the phone back on the nightstand. She clenched her teeth. "But how could he…"

"Ritsu was suffering and he just left… unforgivable."

Taking a deep sigh, Renjaku pulls out her own cell phone and waits for the other line to pick after she dials.

_"Renjaku, do you have an update on Ritsu's status?"_

"Yes, his burn is already healed but…" She lifted up the hem of the glove on his right hand to show the dark brown scar that shone through his pale skin. Feeling a slight pang in her chest she put it back down.

_"Well that's good news, I should've remembered that he was a fast healer. Never thought Kero would be the one to remind me. "_

"Milady… I think you should hold off on tonight's appointment for now."

"_Renjaku? Did something happen?"_

"He… collapsed."

_"What?! Is he-"_

"It's not what you think! He's still breathing so it's not like before… it's probably just stress. Remember? If something like that were to happen again, Kero would've mentioned something."

"…"

"Milady?"

_"Renjaku, keep monitoring him, but I want constant updates on his condition. Understood?"_

"Yes, milady."

After the phone call ended, a new presence entered the room. She jumped for a moment, but the familiar scent of coffee wafting through the air calmed her down. His deep voice rung throughout the apartment. "How is Ritsu-sama?" Going to her side, the shady looking individual kneels next to Ritsu's unconscious form.

She solemnly looked him over. "It's a false alarm for the most part. He's starting to show signs of waking up, but it might be a while…" She clenched her fist and didn't look up. "Java, you know we can't tell his father about this yet. Right?"

"…Yes, I know." He furrowed his eyebrows. "… But we'll have to if his power gets out of hand. That girl isn't around this time to help Ritsu-sama."

Not taking her oceanic eyes off his pain stricken expression, she confesses. "…You know, I've been checking his breathing every few minutes because his face looks just like he did on that day…" Tears started trickling down as she shook. "I don't think any of us can take it if _that _happens again…"

"…" Not saying anything the dark skinned man stood up. "Java? Where are you going?"

"To get some answers from his 'neighbor'" Professionally adjusting his sunglasses, he states. "You told me that Takano Masamune left the building right after Ritsu-sama called you. When you got here, the door was unlocked."

She didn't answer his statement. "…."

"Considering their past relationship, I wouldn't be surprised if that man was in here."

"… Do you think Ritsu would be happy if you made a scene while he was unconscious?"

"It's the only way we're going to find out any clues. I'm sure his father would want me to do this if he knew!"

Not flinching from his loud voice, she yells back at him. "But what if he finds out and this happens again?! He won't try to ask for anybody's help. What if it wasn't his power then and _that _happened?!"

"…!" He visibly flinched as she went on.

"Even now nobody knows why it happened. No matter what test they ran on him, they never found anything wrong with him. But…"

* * *

_Sometime later…_

He floated around for what seemed like hours until he heard a familiar voice, **_"Ritsu~… hic… hic…"_**

"Huh?"

He twists around to the direction of the sound to watch a projection of what's occurring in the real world. Instead of being on the hardwood floor, he finds his body moved to his bedroom and obviously lying still on his bed with a weeping Renjaku at his side. He slightly chuckles at the sight of her hair undone and her glasses fallen from her hidden beauty.

_She'll definitely give Kisa a run for his money._

He takes note of the headphones placed on his head where the music is obviously coming from. "Heh, she would keep those around."

The next thing he knew was that he found himself back in his body with a teary eyed Renjaku looming over him. Giving out a tired smile, "… Long time no see, Renjaku."

"R-Ritsu…! Hic- hic- I was so worried!" In relief, the brunette slightly jumps on the young editor and sobs into his chest.

Frowning at how upset she is, Ritsu tries to calm her down by gently patting her head. "Sorry for scaring you like this and having you watch over my body…" _Looks like I was right, the assistant really was Renjaku._

"Don't be!" She blubbered out. Feeling an oncoming headache, he presses his hand to his warm forehead. "Nghh… How long was I out for?"

Calming down, she informs him. "You were gone for a few hours… how do you feel?"

Getting up, Gabriel gestures to Ritsu's phone. "A little worn out, but I'm alright- crap! I'm going to be late for work!"

"Ngh…!" The moment he steps out of bed, his legs gave out from under him. To stop him from plummeting to the floor, "Ritsu!" Renjaku quickly managed to grab his shoulders and slowly settled him down. "Ritsu…"

He rested his head on her dainty shoulder before sluggishly pulling back to assure her, "…It's ok, I just slipped, that's all."

"No, it's not! You're definitely not alright!" Noticing his flushed cheeks, she pushes her hand past his hair and onto his forehead, "You're burning up!"

She quickly realized, _Could it be a side effect?_

"… I'll buy some medicine on the way to work."

Upset at how lightly he's taking it, she yelled at him. "Do you honestly think medicine will work on you in your current state?!" As he flinched she tied her hair back up and put her glasses back on. "Just wait, Java is coming back soon."

"Java? He was here?" Noticing his worried expression, she assures him. "Yes, but don't worry. We haven't told your father." He held a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good."

Taking his phone off the nightstand, his eyes go wide at the amount of missed calls and the time. "Uwaah! Sorry Renjaku, but I really have to go to work!" Somehow, he managed to catch her off guard as he jumped off the bed and bolted out the room with Gabriel right behind him.

"Not if I can help it!" Chasing him out the door, she couldn't help but wonder. After all, it's not like him to push aside something this serious for work.

_What… did he see?_

* * *

**_A/N: Next chapter, we see the reappearance of a certain someone/thing from Penguindrum!_**

**_Please Review! _**

**_I mean, seriously. I want actual reviews on whether or not you people like this story and why. Or what could be better. Those are the kind of reviews fanfic writers are hoping for, you know. So legitimate reviews please!_**

**_P.S. I have another SIH fanfic in the works! :D_**


	8. Apples and Hats

**A/N: So sorry for the long wait! I hope this length makes up for all the waiting. I also made a new cover for this story. Again, my scanner screwed over the line quality and I wound up having to rework everything. But I do like how everything turned out with Ritsu's new outfit!**

**Going to upload it to my deviantart in a while.**

**Critique it if you feel like it! (I want to transfer to an art school for illustration so critiques always help!)**

**Sorry for any grammar errors you might spot. This is kind of long...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi or MPD but I do own Java, Kero (who aren't in this chapter) and the weird creatures mentioned below!**

* * *

_Deep in a hidden library hid thousands and thousands of books. Very few people ever found the library as it lay beneath the bustling city. The musky scent of the books seemed to leave no book untouched. However, musky the scent was, it also seemed to carry something sweet into the air. The number of floors to the underground library seemed unreal as one would look up, the gap between floors seeming to close as one would look up until blurring together into the blue skylight overhead. The seemingly faraway skylight let the warm sun shine down all the way into the center of the library's bottom floor. The desk at the lowest floor remained unmanned by any human at the moment. Instead were two tiny figures sitting side by side on its wooden surface, having a chat._

_"Oh my gosh!" Cheered the tiny black figure, his round green eyes shining. His black hair was parted in the middle, framing his adorable face. He wore a brown vest with dark brown pants. His bolo tie held a clip of an apple just below his neck. _

_"Oh my gosh…" Said the other tiny black figure, his sharp blue eyes looking down. His sharp black hair was parted to cover the left side of his forehead. He wore a white button up shirt with suspenders that crossed his back, connecting to his dark blue pants. He also wore a bolo tie with an apple clip just below his neck._

_The green eyed chibi wrapped its stubby, black arms around the other's head. "It's finally going to start!" _

_The blue eyed chibi tilted its slightly large head as it thought. "That means…" Unable to come up with an answer, he looks back up at the other being. "What exactly?"_

_"Uncharacteristically swearing like a sailor! See?" Jumping into a wooden toy boat, the green eyed figure takes out a wooden sword. He finds a pirate hat and puts it on as he aims his small sword upwards. "Ahoy, ye scurvy- $ !^%&#$ $!$%# $## $!"_

_"They're going to be in for a shock…"_

_"Wearing a fancy outfit!" Magically putting on an elaborate navy commander uniform, the green eyed chibi did a single twirl. "Imagine!"_

_Sharp blue eyes closed as the little person solemnly shook his black head. "Poor guy… he'll probably never know…"_

_"Lots of magical flashbacks!" Taking out a box of popcorn, the two hear the sound of clicking coming from a projector. They look at a newly appeared projection screen showing several images of a young teenager with emerald eyes._

_The chirpy black chibi held out the striped container to his companion. Grabbing some popcorn, the blue eyed chibi held a small notebook in his lap. "Going to have to take some notes… maybe a camera too..." A flash of realization crossed his eyes. "But the decision hasn't been made yet…"_

_Jumping up from his seat, the green eyed chibi confidently put his hands on his hips. "But as long as you keep hoping, it might happen!" He pounded a fist into the air. "We gotta fight the dark bunnies!"_

_The only other presence nodded. "That is true. But if we're going to fight them, then she knows that he has to stay alive. Right now, he's the only one who can. Even the dark bunnies know that, that's why they're doing this again. He's almost out of magic though…"_

_"So she'll most likely save him!"_

_The blue eyed entity slowly clapped his little hands. "Huzzah… we made a valid argument… I think…"_

_Large green eyes blinked twice. "Hoh?"_

_At the sound of the new voice, the two turn to see a human-like figure looming over them. However, like them, the figure was completely black except for his glowing eyes. "Eh?! When did you get here?!" The figure childishly tilted its head. Pouting, the small, green eyed figured raised its arms. "Can't you feel it?! It's going to be starting again!" The largest creature in the room nodded._

_The green eyed chibi angrily stomped his tiny foot. "Then why are you here?! He could die again at any moment!"_

_"Woof!"_

_The blue eyed chibi noticed another one of their kind jumping of the tall figure's shoulder. "Oh, you're dropping him off?" On all fours, the brown eyed chibi made his way over to them. Instead of greeting them, it pattered around them. "He seems pretty excited." The primitive chibi barked in response._

_The tall entity stood back as everyone realized what he was about to do. "Bye bye!" The new small resident stood up on his feet as the trio waved at the human-like figure. He slightly nodded as he sank down into the desk's shadow, disappearing into nothing._

_The blue eyed chibi tilted his head. "Oh yeah, wasn't there going to be one more thing happening?"_

_"Hmmm… I can't remember."_

_"I think it was really important…" Finding a cup for their size, the sharp eyed chibi filled it up with some tea before handing it to the brown eyed one. "Here you go."_

_"…" The blue and green eyed entities stared at the amber eyed one that licked away at the tea._

_"Remind me again why he acts like a dog?"_

* * *

…..

"Sorry I'm late…"

Ritsu was the last of Emerald's editors to show up even though he was the first to wake up that morning. Most of his coworkers kept their eyes on their work as Ritsu lumbered into the Maiden department. However, Masamune who didn't look up from his work and coldly uttered, "So glad you could join us newbie. Get to work." Everybody could sense the animosity coming from both men but nobody had the gall to address it. Sitting down at his desk, Ritsu pulled out Mutou's storyboard along with his trusty red pen and began to make the edits.

Trying to break the bad mood, Kisa looks over to Ritsu. "Don't worry Ricchan, it's not-" Taking in his pale complexion and slightly glazed eyes, Kisa did a double take at his poor state of health. "Ricchan?! Are you alright?!" Hearing Kisa's exclamation, all of Emerald's editors look up to see the weak brunet.

"Kyu…" Masamune blinked twice at the sight of Gabriel being slightly faded as he started to collect some discarded books but became too tired and waddled back to Ritsu's side.

Finally responding, Ritsu slowly turned to Kisa. "Eh? Do I look that bad?"

"Yeah, you look worse than you did yesterday. You look like you're ready to pass out…"

He forced a weak smile. "… I'm alright, just a little under the weather."

"Are you sure Ricchan?"

Opening his drawer, Hatori started rifling through it. "Onodera, I have some medicine in my dra-"

Cutting him off, Ritsu raised his hand defensively as Hatori stopped. "It's ok Hatori-san, I already took some medicine earlier."

"…" As much as Masamune wanted to interrogate Ritsu on how he quickly he had gotten sick, he refrained from getting out of his seat. He also had to resist the urge to tell the brunet to just go home, knowing that they'll most likely get into another argument, which will probably make him worse. "Dammit…" He barely whispered.

While making the edits Gabriel sat between Ritsu's and Kisa's chairs and read the book that he brought from home.

Noticing the apple placed on Ritsu's desk, Kisa gestured towards it. "Maybe eating that apple will help you, Ricchan." Everybody had been wondering where the sweet scent was coming from. Ritsu had the same scent emanating from around him but it was never to the point where everybody could smell it.

"Oh, this?"

Mino tilted his head in surprise. "That is rare. I rarely ever see you bring in food." Ritsu slightly furrowed his brow as he looked at the apple.

"What's wrong, Ricchan?"

His odd gaze became more intense as he stared at the red fruit. "I can't remember how I got this apple."

Everybody couldn't help but think to themselves, _He really is sick…_

The hours flew by with Ritsu and Masamune not saying a peep to each other than referring to Mutou's storyboarding. All the editors looked on with worry as Ritsu showed no sign of getting better.

At one point, Yokozawa had come by to talk to Masamune about a proposal but slightly winced at the sight of Ritsu and the apple.

* * *

_Flashback…_

_While finishing up on his rounds, Takafumi took the train to get back to Marukawa. While he sat on the semi crowded train, it had stopped as the doors opened to welcome in more passengers._

_Right before they were about to close, a certain brunet managed to bolt in before it was too late. 'What the hell is he doing?' Takafumi thought. He knew that at this point of the cycle, Emerald's editors should start coming earlier. So he couldn't understand why he was here. However, just looking at his sickly face, he could tell was not in the best condition._

_However, as the pale young editor slightly bent over to catch his breath, "…!" everybody in the train jumped as there was a thud against the closed doors Ritsu was in front of. Sapphire eyes went wide as he saw the stalker maid from before run into the doors before falling backwards onto the platform. "Geh…" Even more surprised, Takafumi had noticed that Ritsu was murmuring an apology to the strange woman._

_"The hell?"_

_As the train started to move again, the brunet made no motion to find a seat since it seemed from first glance that all the seats were taken. He just clung on to the nearby metal pole with his gloved hands as he dizzily swayed. However, some people had obviously taken note of his condition. It really started to piss Takafumi off when he noticed that some of the passengers started talking about Ritsu's sickly expression but made no motion to offer a seat as he slightly swayed._

_It pissed him off even more when the only person who offered him a seat was an elderly woman. Ritsu immediately refused, saying that his stop wasn't too far away, even though Takafumi knew it would take another thirty minutes to get there. The woman sat back down, slightly pouting as she looked at the other passengers who did not care for the man who obviously needed to sit down._

_ As much as he originally disliked him, he couldn't help but want to give him a hand._

_"Oi, Onodera."_

_The brunet slowly turned at the voice. "Eh? Yokozawa-san?"_

_"Get over here." Needless to say, Ritsu staggered over without any complaint. It slightly surprised him when Ritsu didn't seem to show any fear in his peridot eyes as he normally did when the two occasionally met. His tired eyes held more confidence than they usually did._

_"Is there something you nee-" Takafumi tugged his arm down as he motioned to make room for him. "Eh?" Realizing what Takafumi had intended, Ritsu sat down in the vacant space that somehow managed to be enough room for him._

_Confused, the sickly brunet looked up at him. "Don't get me wrong, I'm only giving you space because you look like you're about to keel over." He crossed his arms as he momentarily looked over the brunet. _

_Seeing him like this instantly made Takafumi ask himself where the hell Masamune was. He knew Masamune cared for Ritsu's well-being seeing as he proclaimed his love for him a while back so he couldn't see why Ritsu was all by himself in this state. He also recalled the issue of the stalker maid so that should've given him more reason to stay by his side._

_Green eyes blinked twice. "Oh." Surprising the man even more, Ritsu gave a warm smile. "Thank you, Yokozawa-san."_

_He wasn't sure if it was being sick that made him like this, but Takafumi couldn't help but stutter. "I-it's nothing." Ritsu only nodded in response as he looked forward._

_"…" Curious as he was about the brunet's relationship with the strange maid, Takafumi kept his mouth shut as they rode in silence._

_"Onodera?" Feeling a slight weight on his shoulder, Takafumi turned to find the brunet immediately asleep. Ritsu's sweet apple scented hair wafted through his nose as he soundly slept on his shoulder. Takafumi wasn't sure of what to do since it seemed like that Ritsu needed all the sleep he could get. There wasn't much time until their stop so he knew the short nap wouldn't be of much help anyway._

_ "…!" He immediately held a hand to the side of his head as he winced in slight pain. "My head…" He momentarily closed his eyes before he heard a heavy click that vibrated throughout the train car._

_"Eh?"_

_Looking around he found that the train became drastically different. The overhead lights had disappeared but the duo seemed to hold an odd glow. All of the other passengers had disappeared and it was just the two of them; however the brunet showed no signs of waking up. The dark train car held odd red circles that repeatedly rotated. He could tell the train wasn't moving because of the lack of passing lights outside of the windows. Somehow, the train car seemed eerily familiar even though Takafumi was sure he had never seen this before._

_Takafumi furrowed his eyebrows and closed his sharp eyes as he felt the oncoming headache getting stronger. _

_Hearing the sound of shuffling, he opened his eyes to see a woman sitting across from the duo. The woman held a striking familiarity with her warm brown eyes and long chestnut hair. She held a bright red apple in her hand. His eyes went wide as she held the apple in one hand and another magically appeared from it into her other hand. _

_Momentarily looking out the window, the beautiful woman raised a well plucked eyebrow. "Hmmm? It looks like it stopped moving." She happily sighed as she stood up. "Oh, well."_

_Walking over to the two, she set one on Ritsu's lap and then motioned towards Takafumi. She warmly smiled at him. "Please remember."_

_Sharp blue eyes blinked twice as he took the apple. "Remember what?" Smelling it, he realized that it had the same exact scent as the brunet._

_She gestured to Ritsu. "Onodera?" She nodded. "I have to remember him?" Takafumi slightly tilted his in confusion as he looked at the brunet. He wasn't sure what the hell the woman meant by that so he looked back at the elegant woman, questions obviously surfacing through his sharp eyes._

_She childishly pouted as she looked at Takafumi. "There's something you've been forgetting." Not finding the words to say, Takafumi just watched as the woman motioned back to Ritsu._

_She patted Ritsu on the head as a flash of what seemed like regret went across her eyes. "He's been through so much in his life. Even his lover hasn't realized it yet..." The brunet slightly shifted from her touch but didn't wake up._

_"…" Lifting up the right sleeve of Ritsu's jacket, Takafumi winced at the sight of a dark scar on his arm. "So reckless…"_

_He doesn't where it came from, but the woman pulled out an odd looking penguin hat and placed it on Ritsu's head. Takafumi slightly raised an eyebrow at the sight but made no motion to comment._

_Stepping back, she slightly bowed. "Also, thank you for watching over those two." Looking back up, she warmly smiled at him again. "It really means a lot."_

_Realizing what she meant by 'those two' Takafumi nearly bursts from his seat. "Wait, so you're really-" Instead of giving a straightforward answer, she interrupted him by giving a slight chuckle._

_"Good luck."_

_With a snap of her fingers, the lights flickered as the duo went back to the regular moving train, filled with the apathetic passengers. Takafumi immediately looked to his left to see the brunet still using his shoulder as a pillow, however the penguin hat had disappeared. He held back a gasp as he noticed the apple on Ritsu's lap. Looking back at his hands, he realized that the weight he was carrying in his hands was also a red apple. Even though his headache had disappeared, he held a hand to his head as he shook it in disbelief._

_"…What the hell?"_

* * *

_…._

Kisa had typed away at his proposals for the day while Hatori and Mino had chattered on the phone with their respective authors about the storyboards. About halfway through the night, Hatori had to leave to give his author Yoshikawa Chiharu a piece of his mind about missing the storyboard deadline again.

An hour after Hatori left, Ritsu packs his things before informing Masamune, who was at the nearby break room, "Excuse me, I'm… going to leave now. I finished my work and I have another appointment with Esmeralda. Actually, there's something I want to talk to you about before I leave."

Snapping out of his bad mood, Masamune turns away from the vending machine to answer but his eyes widen as he notices how much worse Ritsu's gotten. Even Gabriel wound up having to cling on to Ritsu's shoulder since he couldn't manage on his own. The fade seemed to have gotten stronger as he clung on. "Kyu…"

Masamune angrily took a step forward. "Onodera? Are you an idiot?! You really should be heading home… You're obviously in no condition for that appointment." He reached his hand out to check Ritsu's forehead but he stepped back.

Ritsu clutched at his satchel as he looked down. "…."

"Onodera?"

The brunet's gaze doesn't leave the floor. "Takano-san… I want to apologize for hitting you this morning. You were trying to help but I wound up hurting you."

"… What the hell?"

"Huh?" By surprise, the larger man grabs the brunet and drags him to a nearby vacant meeting room. "T-Takano-san?!" Once they're inside, Masamune closes the door behind them, locking it and pulls the brunet into his chest for a hug.

He huskily whispered into the brunet's ear. "Please don't tell me the reason why you showed up today, even though you've obviously gotten sick, was so you could apologize."

"Wha-" If possible, the brunet's face grew even redder.

"Bulls-eye, wasn't it?" Pulling back, he smirks at the embarrassed brunet.

Slightly stomping his foot, he yelled out, "Sh-shut up! I just wanted to-"

Cutting him off, Masamune patted the brunet on the head. "Don't worry, I forgive you."

"Really?"

He pulled the shorter man close as he confessed, "Of course I do. I realized that whatever incident the reporter was talking about was obviously something you didn't want to bring up. I should've realized that when you ran off yesterday. I'm sorry that I tried to push you this morning…"

Slightly pushing back, Ritsu urgently looked up at him. "Y-you've got it wrong!"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

Gripping the front of Masamune's shirt, the brunet solemnly confessed, "…The incident the reporter mentioned was the one seventeen years ago… you know… back in 1995…"

It took him a few seconds to think back on that year, considering how long ago it was, but the brunet patiently waited for his reply. "Seventeen… you mean the terrorist attacks on the subways?"

Ritsu nodded as a shadow cast over his eyes. "Yeah, Momoka and I were on one of the trains when the explosions happened…"

"You were caught up in that?" Recalling on how devastating the attacks were, Masamune could only slightly gape as he looked over Ritsu.

Giving a slight nod, the brunet solemnly confessed, "… It's true that the incident caused me a lot of grief. Hell, I'm still trying to get over it even now, I'll probably never will. But the reason I was so upset was because of that reporter. If he hadn't spoken like that, I wouldn't have gotten so angry and shut you off like that…"

"Onodera, what do you mean?"

Ritsu gritted his teeth as he hissed, "You heard him. Calling me and Momoka a 'big scoop'. He was so excited when he was talking about finding her body only for the sake of a 'scoop'. The man was obviously aware that I was with her before everything went to hell but he still spoke as if what happened was no big deal. I get that it happened a long time ago and a lot of people who weren't involved tossed away that memory. But still… taking it so lightly and using other people's suffering for their own gain like that… People like him have always disgusted me."

Recalling what Ritsu had told the reporter the previous night, Masamune couldn't find the words as Ritsu continued. "…"

"So many people's lives were destroyed and everybody's trying to move on. Hell, there are people who are still suffering from it now. So the why the hell does he think it's okay to bring that pain back?"

Masamune could tell just by looking at Ritsu's face that he already knew the answer to that question. However, it also seemed like he was hoping that Masamune would give a different answer.

"…Some people are just like that, Onodera. There's nothing that can be done about it."

Frowning at the answer, the weak brunet just replied. "I guess."

Momentarily patting him on the head, Masamune made way for the door. "I'm going to get my work. There's no way I'm going to let you leave like this all by yourself. Last time I did, you collapsed in the parking lot. Cancel that appointment, I'm driving you home."

"W-wai…" He took a step forward as Masamune's large hand was about to reach for the doorknob. "…!" He clutched his chest as he fell to the floor with a thud. Sweat started dripping down his face as he struggled to breathe.

_Dammit… I'm already running out…_

Quickly turning around at the sound of the thud, "Ono… dera?" Masamune went wide eyed when he saw Ritsu's collapsed form. "…!" Immediately running to his side, Masamune crouched down as he loomed over the brunet. "Onodera?! What's wrong?!"

"Ngh!" He clenched his teeth as he felt another burst of pain explode all over his body. Following the pain, his body involuntary vibrated as the amber eyed man grew frantic.

Masamune immediately held him in his arms as he pulled out his phone. "Stay with me! I'm calling for an ambulance!" Ritsu lies on Masamune's lap as he nervously ran his hand through the ill brunet's soft hair. "You're going to be alright, okay?" He almost dropped his phone when the brunet slowly shook his head, as if he knew what was going on.

His pain stricken face weakly gave a tired smile. "…You know… I …. I've always… "

Masamune grows even more worried as he stops talking mid-sentence. Amber eyes go wide as he feels the brunet's breathing becoming shallow.

"Kyu… kyu…" Lying on his side, the pink penguin rests its scarred wing over the brunet's gloved right hand, slowly fading away.

"Ritsu?" Slowly, Ritsu's cold left hand reaches up to his right shoulder and gently rests on Masamune's much larger hand. Tears formed at his glistening eyes as he tried to force out, "I- I lo…" Knowing what he was about to say, he completely cut him off.

Dropping his phone, Masamune barks out, "You idiot! Don't speak as if you're about to die!" Grabbing his gloved hand, Masamune held it up to his own cheek. "I love you, so please…"

Dull green eyes start drooping as his body proceeds to succumb to the pressure. "…." His eyes slowly closed as tears trickled down his pale chin as his hand slipped away from Masamune's, plopping to the side. His mouth lay slightly parted as his small head slacked backwards in Masamune's hold.

His chest stopped rising.

Masamune could feel his own heart stop at the sight. "No…" He immediately opens the brunet's jacket to press his ear against the brunet's chest. He pulled back when he found no heartbeat, shaking his head in disbelief. "Don't do this…" Tears slipped out of the man's sharp eyes as he started trembling. "Don't leave me, Ritsu…" He shakily caresses his cheek.

He quivered in bewilderment on how the life just evaporated from his subordinate. Ritsu was just up and walking a few minutes ago. He seemed so lively back in the apartment. He appeared sickly for the entire time he was at work, but not to that extent. Now, he's lying dead in his lover's arms.

Snapping out of it, Masamune reached for his phone again to dial 119.

Unbeknownst to him, Ritsu's fingers slightly twitched.

The brunet's body momentarily glowed as his arm shot up to grab Masamune's hand, stopping him from dialing. Completely thrown off guard, Masamune looked down to see the brunet's clothes and hair slightly flapping about as if there was wind coming through. "Rit… su?" His eyes appeared to be dully empty but also held a startlingly, never before seen mixture of ferocity and wisdom. To Masamune, it looked like another person was taking charge of Ritsu's body.

The pain was clearly evident on his pale face as he forcefully panted out,

"**Sur…vival… Strategy…!"**

* * *

….

"…?!" The older man was completely thrown off guard as the trio was swallowed by darkness and he started floating downwards. "What the hell?!" Frantic, he slightly calms down when he spots a dim green panel below him. Finding himself separated from the other two, Takano twists around to find where they are as he goes downwards. He noticed a familiar sweet scent that seemed to waft through the air.

Hearing Gabriel, he looks up to spot the two drifting towards him. "Ritsu!"

"Kyu…" Floating towards them, he takes note of Gabriel clinging on to the unconscious brunet. When he's close enough, he pulls the smaller man into his arms and holds him bridal style. With the combined weight, they all sank faster towards the circular panel.

He held him even closer as he shifted his head to the brunet's chest. He held a gasp as he heard a tiny heartbeat, instantly readjusting himself as he held him tight, letting rare tears fall down his cheeks. He burrowed his head in the crook of his neck. "Don't scare me like that…" Not caring about where they were for the moment, the man just sobbed onto the brunet's shoulder before rubbing away his tears.

Landing on the panel, Masamune slowly settled Ritsu down in his arms as the odd platform began its descent. He looks him over to see that his face is still very pale and sweat is dripping down his forehead. His open jacket revealed his wan neck glistening with sweat as his chest heaved repeatedly upwards. Taking note of how warm his body is, Masamune pushes his hand to the brunet's forehead and winces at the heat, "He's really burning up…"

"Kyu…" The weak penguin tugs at the man's shirt and points below them.

"What the hell is that?" Looking down, he finally noticed the brunet's quickly dimming green world. The astrolabe struggles to go at a regular pace but it's progressively slowing down as the small green light in the center of the world weakly flickered.

In turn, the brunet's breathing grew shallower. "Ritsu?" His chest started heaving as if gasping for more air, but from what can be seen, there is no use. "We have to get him out of here… but where the hell are we?"

"…?!" Turning around he finally noticed the presence of a pitch black figure sitting across from the trio. "…" Its large and glowing green eyes revealed no emotion as it stared at them. Masamune wasn't sure, but he could've sworn it looked like Ritsu's teenage self. He had a lithe build, the portions of his black hair that stuck out seemed to be shaped the same way as the brunet's original hair-cut, not to mention his small face was shaped the same way.

However, Masamune was still cautious of it as stared on. "…What the hell are you?" It suddenly stood up as it slowly walked towards the group. "…!" Masamune defensively turns Ritsu's body away from the entity as it cracked a wide, ominous grin, letting two fangs protrude from its mouth. Unsure of what to do, the man could only furrow his eyebrows as the walking shadow neared.

Obviously still weak, Gabriel crawled forward, slightly shaking his faded pink head. "…" The shadow immediately stopped in its tracks in front of him and crouched down as if it were a dog, childishly tilting its head. "…?" Gabriel shook his head again. The fangs disappeared as it momentarily looked at Ritsu's vulnerable form, surprising Masamune went it gave a slight high-pitched whine. It lowered its black head as it looked back at Gabriel, slightly pouting with its large eyes.

"Kyu…"

Glowing green eyes innocently blinked twice. "Hoh?" Grabbing Gabriel, the being gently tucked him in his arms as he lied on his side, staring at the two. He curled up his black legs as he warmly nuzzled the pink penguin.

"…The hell?" No matter how he looked at it now, the inky teenage look-alike was acting like a puppy. If it hadn't popped out the fangs earlier, he might've considered what this thing was doing as 'cute'. He might've tied this all as a crazy dream but the feeling of the life escaping from Ritsu's body yet again seems to be too real to disregard.

Nervously looking at the entity, Masamune asked, "… You know what's happening to him?"

"…" The figure nodded.

"Then… is there a way to help him?!"

"…" In unison, the figure and Gabriel looked upwards.

Following their gaze, Masamune looks up just in time to see a penguin hat floating downwards and landing on the brunet's head. Amber eyes go wide as an elaborate outfit forms on the unconscious man's body. Simply put, it was an outfit that he knew that Ritsu would never wear in real life, even if it oddly enough suited him.

The dark naval commander uniform-like jacket accentuated his model-like frame as it rested on his torso. His puffy collar encircling his neck, wrapped in a dark pink ribbon, only served to show how small his face was. The black thigh-high boots were met with the pure white of his pants that disappeared underneath his vest. The snow white epaulettes draped his shoulders as they slightly shifted from Masamune's embrace. The thing that threw Masamune off the most was the large plush ruffles that laced the elongated coattails of his jacket. If he were up and walking the tails would definitely end up being dragged along.

He looked like a complete doll.

As the hat rests on his head, the sinister pink eyes of the hat glow for a second before the world beneath them follows suit and becomes a purplish pink ball of soft light. Noticing the disappearance of the odd entity, Masamune could only furrow his eyebrows.

"What the hell is going on?"

As it glows, Masamune felt the unconscious man's body stir in his arms. He looks back at him in shock to see that he's immediately gotten better. His complexion has gone back to normal along with his body temperature. He became even more bewildered as he slowly opens his eyes.

The once beautiful emerald eyes that were previously dull now glow with an unearthly pink.

"Onodera…?"

"…" At first, the possessed man doesn't say anything but his slit eyes momentarily reveal pity as he stares at the larger man. However, his eyes immediately sharpen as he coldly answers in an unusually powerful voice.

"You…" That was definitely him speaking, but the raven haired man had never heard him speak with such weight to his voice. Slightly flinching at the power in his voice, the raven haired man winds up going along with it, "Onodera, what the hell is going on?"

Ignoring his question, the brunet looks him over with indifferent eyes before concluding, "Looks like the flow of your fate has successfully been transferred… for the most part."

"My fate?" At that moment, the pink eyed man lifts up his right arm and pulls back his sleeve to reveal the dark brown, lollipop shaped burn scar that spanned along the lower half of his arm.

"…" Gabriel lightly rubbed his own wing.

"Onodera, what the hell happened?! What did-" Cutting him off, the brunet lifts his scarred hand to the larger man's firm chin. His thumb gently caressed the man's tender lips. Slightly stunned at the gesture, the man only stared wide eyed as the brunet neared with his own lips.

He held a slight blush as the intensity of the amethyst eyed man's stare was being directed towards his lips. Pulling his hand away, he brushed the larger man's cheek with his own. He held a chuckle as he seductively whispered into Masamune's ear, "I see… perhaps the prince's kiss will be enough to awaken him. "

"…What are you going on about?"

Recomposing himself, he pulls back to lift himself up off of Masamune's shoulders. He looked down on him with a cold expression as he barked out, "You should be glad that I'm even giving you a hint before I've made my decision. If we were on solid ground right now, you should be getting down on your knees and thanking me!"

_Decision?_

Snapping out of his confusion, the raven haired man angrily yells back at him. "Hah?! Are you trying to piss me off?! Snap out of it, Onodera!"

Annoyed, he clicked his tongue. "Tsk. Ungrateful man whore."

"What did you just freaking call me?!"

He sharply looked down on him with a slight venom to his tone. "You are an ungrateful man whore. Must I repeat something that is so obvious?" Noticing Masamune's shocked expression, Ritsu cocked his head with a devilish smirk. "Hmm? Is a lower life form such as yourself incapable of realizing that?"

"…The hell are you talking about, Onodera?"

Ritsu sighed. "How dense can a human…" Interrupting him, the hat falls away from the brunet's head and into the darkness. Going off into the darkness, Gabriel jumps off the platform and trails after it, leaving the two men alone.

Even though the hat fell off, Ritsu's eyes maintain their pinkish color as he falls backwards. "Oi!" Before he could fall away, Masamune grabs his outstretched arm and pulls him close. They just sat there as the brunet doesn't respond and stares off into space. "….." The outfit he wore shifted back to the smaller man's regular clothes as the amber eyed man takes note of the reappearance of the gloves that the brunet had worn previously.

_The gloves…_

Realizing that reason that Ritsu started wearing the gloves was because of his scar, Masamune lifted up the sleeve to make sure. He winced at the sight. "What the hell happened to you?"

Looking back at his face, he notices that his eyes are still in a dazed pink state. With his mouth slightly parted, it was obvious that Ritsu hasn't snapped out of it. "Onodera?" The raven haired man tries to shake him but he doesn't respond as he lies limp in his arms. _What's wrong with him?_

He's snapped out of his thoughts as he hears whirring from below. Looking down, he watches as the astrolabe surrounding the purplish world of light slows down before changing color. The light becomes a softer green than before and the astrolabe picks up to its regular speed. "Ngh…"

"Onodera?" Looking back at his love, Masamune watches as his currently dazed pink eyes shift back to their beautiful jade color. In that instant, the young man snapped out of it. "…Huh? " Feeling a wave of pain come on, he slightly rubbed the side of his head. Looking up, the first thing he sees is amber eyes full of worry. His voice goes back to its usual tone. "Takano…san?"

Tears sprung at his eyes. "…" He starts quivering as the tears go down his cheeks. On the spur of the moment, Ritsu bursts upwards and plants a strong kiss on Masamune's lips, holding him close. Surprised, Masamune didn't know how to respond as their soft lips melded together. Ritsu finally realizes what he's doing at one point and hastily pulls back.

He murmurs an apology as he wipes away the tears, still shaking. Snapping out of it, Masamune held him close as the brunet calmed down, warmly humming in, "It's ok, you're alright…" He softly kissed him on the forehead as the brunet finally managed to calm down.

Finally taking note of their position, the healthy brunet goes completely red in the face, "Eh?! Why the hell are you holding me?!"

Masamune almost face palmed at this reaction. "Shut up, idiot! We're floating around in the middle of freaking nowhere but that's the first thing you panic about?!"

"Middle of nowhere?" Hearing the familiar whirring sound, the shocked brunet turns to find that they're in the void of his world.

At the sight, Ritsu immediately backed away from it as he pressed into Masamune's chest. "Why… why the hell are we here?!"

Surprised, Masamune looked down at the brunet. "Onodera, you know where we are?"

He narrowed his emeralds as he tried to get out of Masamune's hold. "... Let me go."

"What?" The amber eyed man pulled him in tighter.

"I said, let me go!" He yelled. The brunet struggled with all of his current strength to get out of Masamune's hold but failed.

"Why the hell would you want me to let go?!"

Turning around, Ritsu made eye contact as he tried to avoid giving an answer. "… I'll explain later, but you have to let me go!" He made another attempt to get out of the larger man's hold.

Growing frustrated, the amber eyed man pulled him close and grabbed his shoulders, "Explain now, dammit!"

"Takano-san… I never wanted you to see this."

Gabriel comes back out of the darkness but Masamune is the only one aware of his presence since the brunet has his back to him. He holds a wing to his beak to signify that he should keep quiet.

_What the hell is he doing?_

The raven haired man was never a fan of charades so seeing the penguin like that pretty much bewildered him. First, the penguin pointed to the solemn brunet. Then he held both wings to his beak before fanning them out. Just to make sure that the larger man got the message, Gabriel pointed to his beak again, but this time, he touched the tips of his wings together before pointing to his beak again.

_His lips?_

Thinking back on what the brunet had said when he wore the penguin hat, he exasperated, "Seriously?"

The brunet is caught off guard as Masamune lifts up his dainty chin, "Huh? Takano-san, what are y- mmph!" and he's even more shocked as a warm pair of lips crashed into his. He would've fought back longer if it weren't for Masamune's tongue slipping past his lips and taking possession of his mouth. He felt himself shudder while their tongues danced together. As their bodies pressed against each other, Ritsu could feel himself overheating but not because of illness.

Getting caught up in the moment, the smaller man slowly lifts up his arms to wrap across Masamune's back.

"Nnh…." It was far from a princely kiss, and it came as a shock when Ritsu felt a new presence in the void. At that moment, he snapped out of it as he slapped his boss.

The first thing he did was standing up and looking down at him with red cheeks. "Why did you kiss me?!"

In response, Masamune stood up to look down on him as he barked out, "You told me to! Why did you slap me like a girl?!"

Hearing his first statement, emerald eyes blinked twice. "What?! I never told you to kiss me!" Remembering Masamune's last statement, he stomped his foot in irritation. "And I didn't slap you like a girl!"

Masamune's gaze shifted the pink penguin standing behind them. "…You tricked me, didn't you?"

"Kyu?" Gabriel tilted his head as Masamune narrowed his eyes.

_It's always the ones with the blank expressions…_

Green eyes went wide as the brunet stepped forward. "No way…" He looked upwards into the void.

"Onodera?"

"…Hold my hand." The brunet held it out.

Masamune raised an eyebrow. "What? Are you scared?"

"Just do it!" Slightly flinching from his small outburst, Masamune grabbed Ritsu's gloved hand.

Feeling the pink penguin slip into the hood of his jacket, the brunet asks, "Gabriel, you can feel it too?"

"Kyu!"

Chuckling at the penguin's enthusiasm, he suggests, "Then shall we initiate the Survival Strategy?"

"What the hell are you ta-"

Just then, the contours of their bodies glowed green as they started floating upwards. Noticing how the taller man stopped himself, the brunet teased, "What? Are you scared?"

"Of course not! I'm just a little freaked out that we're flying in space. I seriously have no idea what the hell is going on."

"…" When they're high enough, the trio stopped floating for a moment. The raven haired man was about to ask what was wrong but stopped himself as a platform of soft green light formed below their feet. "…Takano-san, we're going straight up from here."

"Well where are we going?"

Ritsu pointed upwards. "I felt some sort of gap up there, so it's most likely the emergency exit. At this rate, we'll be there pretty soon." Unsure of what to say, Masamune just nodded.

"… I'm sorry you got caught up in this… Takano-san?!" By surprise, the larger man wraps an arm around his thin waist as he pulls him down. Sitting on the rising platform, he rings both of his arms around Ritsu's waist as his back is pressed against his broad chest.

His deep voice echoed through the smaller man's body as he told, "Well, I'd like to know what I'm caught up in. Care to explain?"

Ritsu sighed as he looked up. "Where do I start…?"

"What do you mean?"

Sitting on his lap, Ritsu gently rubbed the top of Gabriel's soft head as he thought out on where to start. "…Do you remember that ball of light back there?"

Remembering the ball surrounded by the astrolabe, Masamune nodded. "Yeah, what is it?"

Unsure of how else to put it, Ritsu slowly spoke it out. "I guess you could say it's my world…"

"Your world? You mean a planet?"

Ritsu immediately turned his head toward Masamune. "Not that kind of world!"

"… Then what kind of world are you talking about?"

Turning back towards Gabriel, Ritsu sighed as he rubbed a spot below the penguin's beak, happily squeaking at the gesture. "Well, Momoka used to tell me that it's kind of like my soul but she was never clear on what it actually was. I guess you could say it also represents my current state."

Masamune blinked twice as he recalled the size of the orb of light. "That thing was your soul?"

"You don't believe me?"

Masamune shrugged as he let his chin rest on the brunet's shoulder. "Well unless there's some proof, I'm going to have trouble believing you. It all seems kind of far-fetched to me."

Ritsu casted his eyes downward. "… I guess that's true. To you, this all looks like a crazy dream, right?" Noticing his sadness, Masamune slightly pouted on the realization that Ritsu was trying to open up to him and he pretty much shot him down.

"Kyu!" On cue, Gabriel taps his own chest before pointing at Ritsu's. "Eh? I completely forgot! Gabriel, you know about that?" The pink penguin nodded in response.

Feeling out of the loop, Masamune intervened. "What the hell are you talking to your penguin about?" Getting of Ritsu's lap, Gabriel went to the side as he magically pulled out the book from home and started reading.

_…What the hell am I doing?_

Completely out of character the brunet motions to get closer to Masamune. "H-hold on a sec." Slightly fidgeting, the brunet undoes his jacket and pulls the underlying sweater over his head. Leaving them at his side and left in his white, button-up blouse, he slowly undoes the top half of the buttons to reveal his pale, unmarred chest.

"Onodera?" His features being highlighted by the luminescent green of the floor of the make-shift elevator, Masamune could only be at a loss for words at the breathtaking sight of his beloved. It might have been the platform's glow or the trick of the eye, but he could've sworn the brunet's eyes had a glow to them.

It was as if he could see beyond what was around them.

Red in the face, he nervously asks,"Takano-san, c-can you give me your hand?" Slightly confused, the taller man complies. Taking his large hand, Ritsu gently presses it to the center of his warm chest. Amber eyes go wide as the area of his chest beneath Masamune's hand glows white before steadily letting it sink in. With a slight blush, Ritsu held his hands to Masamune's arm as he pulled his hand in. "Ngh… look for it…."

Penetrating him, he cautiously goes in deeper but he stops as he feels something warm and hard at the end of his fingers. Slowly wrapping his fingers around the thick object, he paused as he felt the brunet shudder against his body. "Ngh!"

"Onodera, are you okay?" Noticing his labored breathing, he worriedly looks at him only to try to hold himself back as he saw the brunet's sultry expression. Panting, his mouth was slightly parted as his tongue slightly stuck out. His eyes slightly glazed over followed by flushing from cheek to cheek, he was a sight to behold.

Unable to keep himself upright, he leans forward and rests his head against the larger man's shoulder. Nodding, he clenched his fingers around Masamune's arm and slowly panted out "Nhhh… pull it out already…"

Obliging by what he asked, he slowly pulls the warm green orb of light out of the mewling brunet's chest. He immediately arched his back as he gasped. Unable to contain it, the trembling brunet let out a lewd moan, "Ah, ahh…!"

It took Masamune all he had, and then some, to not just stop what he was doing and take the brunet on the spot. Relaxing into his broad chest, the recovering brunet turns to look at his emerald soul. Its radiant shine reflected off both men's eyes.

"There it is…"

Looking at it, Masamune can tell that it's basically a miniature replica of the bigger world of light from before. His eyes go wide as he felt the steady beating emanating from it into his hand. _It's like a heartbeat…_

Ritsu unconsciously rubbed the center of his chest. "It's weird isn't it? Having something like this inside me… which is basically my soul. Well, I guess you could also say it's my life. With it, I can control Emerald World."

Masamune couldn't help but chuckle at the name. "Emerald World?"

"Heh… that's what she used to call it. God, I bet Momoka would be furious if she saw us right now…" Shuddering, he immediately turned pale at the thought.

"Why would she be mad?"

Ritsu shifted his eyes to the side when he thought of Masamune's most likely reaction. "…Well I just told you. That's basically my life you're holding. Since you have it, you could kill me if you wanted to."

_Kill him?!_

"…Then why the hell did you let me take it?! For all you know I might not take you seriously, still think this was all a dream, and wind up killing you!" The brunet flinched at his exclamation before blushing bright red.

Grabbing the sides of his open shirt, Ritsu stuttered. "…I-isn't that obvious? I-it's because I t-trust you… with my life…" Trying to contain himself, Masamune mentally face palmed as he thought, _God, don't turn me on like that…!_

"Wait, that girl knew about this place?"

Ritsu nodded at his question. "To be honest, I could tell she knew more about it than even I did. She's probably the only one who would know why this is happening…"

"What do you mean?"

Ritsu held his hand up to his chest. "…Didn't my heart stop at one point?" At the mention, Masamune grimaced. He slightly nodded as the brunet continued. "The reason we wound up down here was because I died." Noticing Masamune's slight jolt, Ritsu reassures him. "But I'm alive now, that's pretty much proof of it so…" He gestures to the orb in Masamune's palm.

Masamune kept feeling the steady beating from the orb of light. "So why did your heart stop?"

"I don't know."

"…!" Taking his soul back, it glowed brightly before pressing it back into his chest.

The amber eyed man grimaced at his next thought. "…Is it an illness?"

The brunet shook his head. "I'm not sure… in the past I had to take several tests but everything came out clean. According to each doctor I went to, I was healthy as a horse." For an unknown reason, Ritsu slightly grimaced as he thought back on his doctors.

"In the past? This happened to you before?"

A flash of what seemed like terror filled his eyes. "… That's-" He stops himself when he hears the sound of an elevator's ding. The platform slowly stops as they both get up to check their surroundings. Turning around, he spots the gap he felt earlier.

"There's the exit!" He pointed to the gap he sensed. Gabriel climbed onto Ritsu's shoulder as he took a step towards it.

Masamune shook his head in disbelief. "You gotta be kidding me… there's an exit sign on the exit?" Lo and behold, was a green sign of a running stick figure heading for a door. The door underneath looked like one of the sliding doors that are found on subway trains.

Confused by his question, the brunet tilts his head as he innocently responds, "Well, yeah. It's the exit so why wouldn't it have a sign?"

_"….." What the hell is this place?_

Ritsu crossed his arms as Masamune showed no sign of moving. "Do you want to get out of here or not?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Heading out for the door, it flashed a bright light as the trio exited the brunet's domain.

* * *

**So there you have it! The next chapter is basically a part two of this, but there won't be much progress in the story line. It'll shed a little light on Renjaku's and Ritsu's past, plus there shall be an introduction of my previously mentioned OC, Kero! Java shall also come into the picture!**

**I hope that intro didn't throw anybody too far off...**

**For the train scene, in order to know who the mysterious woman and who 'those two' were you have to have read the Yokozawa no baai novels. If you haven't, go read them! They're so beautiful they'll make you love Yokozawa! :')**

**Please Review!**

**Bye for now!**


	9. Gossip

_After making love, the two sweaty teenagers collapsed on the plush bed. Their vulnerable, naked bodies were entwined within each other as they slept in the older teenager's bedroom, cuddling for warmth. The teenage Ritsu's sweet scent wafted through his beloved's nose as it spread across the book littered room._

_"Nh…"_

_Waking up a little while later, the teenage Masamune had watched the brunet peacefully sleep. Ritsu was such a beautiful and delicate looking creature that it still amazed him that he was a boy. That soft and rather sizable appendage down there between his high hips was enough to let him know, but whenever he looks back at Ritsu's rosy cheeked face, he was still thrown for a loop._

_With the window still open, small pink petals of the cherry blossom wandered inside the dark room, one of which traveled onto Ritsu's soft hair before slipping to his rosy cheek. Instead of taking it off, Masamune just let lie where it was. To him, the little petal seemed to add to the charm as it brushed up against Ritsu's long eyelashes. The soft breaths leaving his parted lips however, were enough to cause the petal to slip away from his face and down onto the bed._

_Even in the darkness of the moonlit room, Ritsu's sleek body seemed to have a soft glow… until the point he had started to shift. "Ritsu?" His furrowed brow and shaking fists clenching onto the soft blanket allowed Masamune to know that his beloved was having a nightmare. "Wake up, Ritsu." He gently whispered, shaking Ritsu's thin shoulder._

_"…!" Bright emerald eyes flashed open as Ritsu jolted himself upright, awake and alert. His bare chest rapidly rose and fell as he took in heavy breaths. "Just a dream…" He weakly panted out, grasping his clammy forehead with his fingers._

_"Are you alright?" Masamune had worriedly asked, getting up to comfort his kouhai. However, Ritsu strangely didn't respond to his question as he started to calm down. Still worried, Masamune grabbed Ritsu's slightly shivering shoulder. "Ritsu?" _

_The brunet immediately turned around to reveal his soft emerald eyes. "Saga-senpai! I'm sorry! Did I wake you up?"_

_"I was already awake." Masamune slightly frowned as he patted Ritsu's soft head. "…Did you have a nightmare?"_

_"… Yes." He meekly said. Ritsu was taken by surprise when Masamune wrapped his strong arms around his lithe waist before pulling him back down on the soft bed. Holding him close, Ritsu could feel his senpai's rapid heartbeat coming out of his chest as he embarrassingly stammered before calming himself down. _

_The brown-eyed senpai blinked twice when he saw the changed look on Ritsu's face. His emerald eyes shimmering in the moonlight held a lost and pained expression as he stared at his lover. "Senpai, you know I…" _

_"What?"_

_He gave a small smile as he shook his head. "Never mind." _

* * *

_….._

He felt his head pounding as he slowly opened his brown eyes. "Ugh… my head feels like crap…" Looking up into the ceiling, the man recalls that he's back in the dark meeting room and down on the carpeted floor. Feeling something heavy on his chest, Masamune looked down to see the sweet smelling brunet groggily waking up. He looked so adorable when he slowly opened his beautiful eyes and rubbed them as if he were a kitten.

Finally noticing their position, the brunet shoots upwards, "Eh?! Sorry, Takano-san!" Moving too suddenly, Ritsu fell backwards, only to be stopped by a large hand grabbing his arm.

"Calm down! Geez, you panic over the smallest things." Sitting upright, the larger man pulls Ritsu to his chest. Much to his chagrin, Masamune swiftly opened up the brunet's button shirt to reveal his pale chest.

"T-Takano-san?!" Before he could retaliate, Masamune pushed him down to the floor as he rested his head on Ritsu's bare chest.

He pressed his ear over Ritsu's heart as the brunet, shocked, was unsure of what to do. Hearing Ritsu's strong, yet slightly rapid heartbeat, Masamune held a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness…" Slightly moving up, Masamune wrapped his arms around Ritsu's neck as he took another deep breath. "You really are…"

"…You were that scared for me?"

Immediately, Masamune presses his hands against the floor as he looms over Ritsu. "Of course I was!" He yelled. It surprised Ritsu when he saw the painful look in the taller man's brown eyes. "…You have no idea how I felt when I found that your heart stopped. I thought my own was going to stop as well. I never want to lose you again…"

"…!" Closing the gap, Masamune pressed his warm lips against Ritsu's. His husky scent wafted through the brunet's nose as his moist tongue slipped past his lips. "Ah…" The blushing brunet shuddered as Masamune gently put a hand behind his head. Getting caught up in it, Ritsu slowly lifted up his arms.

_"Takano-san…"_

A trail of saliva went down Ritsu's dainty chin as he wrapped his arms around Masamune's broad back, pulling him close. Slightly surprised, Masamune smiled in the couple's long kiss. A warm hand went down to one of the brunet's exposed nipples before Ritsu turns to his nearby bag when he hears his phone going off.

Pulling out of the kiss, Masamune frowns as the ringing buzzes throughout the room. Ritsu blushes even more when he realizes their position, him underneath the taller man with his shirt open and vulnerable to Masamune's touch. Masamune sighed as the phone continued to ring. "Go on… answer it…" Watching him go for his bag, Masamune immediately held back a snort when he noticed Gabriel standing in the corner of the room with his pink wings over his little eyes.

Pulling it out with a gloved hand, he composes himself before answering. "This is Onodera Ritsu speaking. Ah, yes we can keep the appointment. Eh? She told you what happened?" The brunet held a slight grimace before he continued. "….I can still go, just give me half an hour. Where? Oh, ok. See you soon, bye."

Putting away his phone, the brunet refrained from making eye contact. "That was Ma- Esmeralda. She wanted to call about the appointment."

"You just died! You really shouldn't be going to that appointment."

Ritsu's eyes instantly narrowed, brimming with hidden wisdom. "Then what should I do, Takano-san? Go to a hospital? I already told you that the doctors can't find anything." Grabbing Masamune's warm hand, Ritsu held it to his beating chest. "My heart is just fine now, so…"

"How can you just brush that off?"

Emerald eyes slightly widen before they shift to the side. "… I just can. It would do me no good if I let it get to me."

"You say it as if you're used to this kind of thing."

"…" Not saying anything, Ritsu keeps from making eye contact as he buttons up his shirt. He swings the straps of his bag onto his coated shoulder, momentarily grasping at his still recovering arm before recomposing himself. Hastily getting up, Gabriel follows him as he makes for the door but stops when he heard himself being called out.

"Onodera."

"W-what?" His shaking hand is on the doorknob, he doesn't look back. Looking at his trembling shoulders, Masamune felt a pang in his chest as he saw how fragile the brunet became. It was as if he could break at any second.

By surprise, the larger man wraps his arms around Ritsu's trembling frame. Pulling him close, he rests his firm chin on the shorter man's small head. Slouching over, he lifts up Ritsu's dainty chin and plants a light kiss on his cheek, whispering. "You don't have to try so hard, Ritsu."

Having not seen this coming, Ritsu immediately turned around to face him, completely red in the face. "Wha…? Why are you-" Staring deep into his eyes, the blushing brunet unconsciously stammers out, "I… I…"

He was quickly cut off by someone banging on the door behind them. "Oi! Masamune! Are you in there?" Called out a familiar muffled voice.

Masamune annoyingly clicked his tongue in response. "Tsk. I'm busy, Yokozawa! What do you need?!"

"I need to talk to you again about your proposal! What the hell are you doing in there?!"

"Important business! How the hell did you know I was here?!"

"…A bird told me." Takafumi had meekly said in reply. If it weren't for his deep voice, neither of the two editors would've heard him.

"Hah?! What kind of excuse is that?!"

"No, seriously, a bird flew into the building asking for someone named Kero-chan. It also told me someone with the name of a famous sword smith was in here. So I assumed it was you." The business man had calmly told. As ridiculous as his statement had sounded, it seemed like Takafumi really was telling the truth.

"…What the hell?"

"Wait…" Ritsu held a wave of realization through his emerald eyes as he turned for the knob and abruptly opened the door. "Kero?!" On the other side of the door was the infamous salesman, clad in a navy blue suit and letting a white and grayish colored bird perch on his broad shoulder.

"You…?" Sapphire eyes blinked twice at the sight of Ritsu. Takafumi recalled seeing the brunet on the train, looking ready to keel over but now he looked like some of the color was brought back to his face. To be honest, it took him all he had to not yell at Ritsu to just go to the hospital. However, he looks like he can manage on his own now, even though it was odd how he could recover this quickly.

"Kero-chan~! I missed you~!" Flapping over, the white-faced cockatiel perches on Ritsu's shoulder. He happily rubbed his soft head against the brunet's cheek. Chuckling, "Heh, you always say that." He lovingly rubs the bird's neck with his finger.

Kind of lost, Masamune asks, "Onodera, you know this bird?"

Climbing up onto his other shoulder, the pink penguin gave a small wave to Kero, who fanned out a wing and waved back. Takafumi, unable to see Gabriel, raised an eyebrow at the odd gesture.

"Ah, yes. This is Kero, he's my family's pet bird. But wait, if you're here, then where's father?" The brunet looks at both ends of the corridor but finds that they're the only people present. Ritsu turned to Takafumi to ask if he had previously seen anyone with Kero but was cut off by the chirpy bird.

"I escaped from curly fries!"

Emerald eyes blinked twice as Ritsu tilted his head. "Eh? Why did she have you?" Putting a gloved hand to his shoulder, Kero hopped on as Ritsu moved it over so he was face to face with the bird.

"She kidnapped me because she wanted to crush somebody!" Both of the older males' eyes widen, but Ritsu's expression becomes a slightly annoyed one. "Sort of… hehe…"

_What else is new?!_

"I see. But why did you want to find me? I bet father is worried about you…"

"Surprising reunions! Surprising reunions!" The bird excitedly chirped, with gray wings flapping about.

"Surprising re-"A flash of realization crossed his face. "Wait, that's why you came?"

"Oh! Is that the infamous Kero I see?" Hearing the new voice, everybody turns to see the president of the company nonchalantly coming down the vacant hallway. Just coming from one of the company's departments, Isaka was currently making his rounds throughout Marukawa's new building.

"Isaka-san, you know Kero?"

"Of course I do!" Isaka giggled as he stepped over to where the others were. Excited, Kero flew off of Ritsu's hand and landed on top of Isaka's head, who giggled even more when he saw Masamune's and Takafumi's stunned reactions. "I told you before, right? Me and your dad have been golfing buddies for years. He always brings this old bird with him whenever we go golfing. Heh, I always ask for Kero's fortunes whenever I get the chance."

In unison, Takafumi and Masamune ask, "Fortunes?"

Isaka's wise eyes blinked twice in surprise as he pointed up at the white-faced cockatiel. "Didn't you know? This bird can tell the future. He's so accurate, it's scary!" Getting picky, Kero flew back to Ritsu's side, landing on his raised arm as Isaka leaned over. "Hey, Kero. Will you give me a fortune?"

"Hmmm…" Putting a feathery wing to his beak, Kero slightly hummed as if he were pondering before shaking his small head. "I don't wanna~!"

"Aww, and I just so happened to have this box of pocky…." Isaka pulled out a fake pout accompanied by a red box of the delicious snack out of his pocket.

"I'll do it! I'll do it!" The bird chirped, flapping his gray wings in excitement.

"Kero! What have father and I told you about taking bribes?" Everybody flinched from Ritsu's little outburst. Looking at how he was talking to Kero, it seemed like Ritsu was acting like a stern parent.

"But Kero-chan, it's pocky…. Pleeeeease?" The bird had begged. Putting two wings to his stomach, Kero slightly swooned in place as he complained. "I'm so hungry… Curly fries wouldn't let me have any pocky… she's a meanie… she only gave me bird food and vegetables…" Unbeknownst to Ritsu, everybody else started snickering as the bird started making more complaints.

Ritsu just sighed at his bird's childishness. "You should thank her for that! You know you can't eat chocolate! Sorry, Isaka-san. Kero can't eat those."

"Why can't he eat them?" Masamune had asked. Amber eyes blinked twice when Ritsu and Takafumi turned to stare at him with bewildered looks. "What?"

Takafumi just sighed before he filled him on it. "Chocolate is poisonous to birds. Masamune, didn't you know that?"

"Sorry, I never bothered owning a bird to care." He had shrugged out.

"I hate you, Kero-chan!" Everybody except the young brunet chuckled at the bird's declaration. "Hmph!"

"… Do you want me to call father and tell him you were going to eat chocolate?" Ritsu had calmly said as he pulled out his cell phone. Even though his small face had a little smile, his emerald eyes definitely weren't.

"…I love you, Kero-chan!"

"Well, that's a shame." Sighing, Isaka put away the red box but caused Masamune and Takafumi to lift an eyebrow when the president still had a knowing smile on his handsome face.

"Hmmm….. I changed my mind! I'll tell it!" Surprising Masamune and Takafumi, Kero closed his dark eyes before opening them to reveal a deep emerald that was identical to Ritsu's own eyes. He slightly hummed as he stared at the ceiling, flapping his now shimmery wings before he made his announcement. "You're going to have lots of fun tonight!"

"Ooh, what kind of fun?"

"Kinky sex! Kinky sex!" As Kero chirped out his fortune, everybody couldn't help but start to snicker. Even though he was red in the face from embarrassment, even Isaka couldn't stop laughing as he leaned against the wall for support.

Ritsu held his hand to his mouth as he chuckled out, "Kero would say that out loud…"

Everyone momentarily stopped as they heard Kero go, "Aww~"

"What's wrong, Kero?" Lifting up a gray wing he pointed over to Takafumi.

"You!"

His eyes widen as he points to himself. "What? Me?"

Like a fangirl, he puts his wings to the sides of his face as he teeters left and right. "Lots of lovey-doveyness for you!"

"Eh?" His eyes widened as he thought of his lover, Kirishima. "You're getting some tonight!" At this point, the sharp eyed man couldn't help but blush as everybody started cracking up again. "And some more tomorrow!" At this point, everyone started guffawing.

The red faced Takafumi was the only one managed to stop laughing as he bluntly asked, "Onodera, why the hell is your bird so perverted?"

"I'm not the one who'll be asking for it!"

Laughing at his come-back, Masamune chortles out, "God, I love this bird."

Suddenly flying off the brunet's shoulder, Kero repetitively circles over the group's heads, eyes still full of emerald. The sound of flapping wings had echoed throughout the vacant hall as Kero started to chirp. "Yay! He's here! He's here!"

"Eh? Who's here, Kero?" Ritsu curiously asked.

Landing down, he perches on Ritsu again, but this time on the brunet's head. Like a metronome, he flips his shimmery wings from left to right as he counts down. "3… 2… 1…!" After finishing the countdown, the group hears the nearby elevator's ring followed by the opening of the doors.

The brunet blinked twice at the sight of a tall man in an unusual looking black suit getting off the elevator. "…Java?"

At first, Isaka puts on a smile but his eyes go wide as he becomes aware of the situation. "Geh…" By instinct, he takes a step back. Masamune and Takafumi grew confused as he had gone pale.

"Isaka-san?"

Hearing the sound of his high quality black shoes clicking against the solid floor, they turn back to see the tan skinned man standing a few feet away from where they were. The light scent of coffee wafts through their noses. Professionally adjusting his sunglasses, he rests his right gloved hand over his chest as he slightly bows. "Good evening, Ritsu-sama." Sharp amber and sapphire eyes go wide at the mention of 'Ritsu-sama' since this is the first time they've heard anyone refer to him as such.

"It's been a while, Java."

"Java!" Excited, Kero flapped over to the stranger and perched on his broad shoulder. He happily rubbed his small head against Java's caramel cheek, similar to when he was with Ritsu. The now black-eyed bird slightly cooed in pleasure as Java rubbed his feathery neck with a gloved finger.

"Onodera, who is he?" Masamune had asked.

"Oh, right. Sorry, this is Java. He's our family's servant." Masamune and Takafumi were slightly taken aback by the unexpected intro as Ritsu proceeded. "Java, this is-"

"Takano Masamune and Yokozawa Takafumi, correct?" Java nodded to himself before he turned to Isaka. "Of course, I'm already acquainted with Isaka-sama."

"Likewise…"

"Hey… how'd you know who we are?" Being their first meeting, the two were pretty sure there was no way this man would know their names. Masamune momentarily thought of the possibility that since he and Ritsu had gone out during high school, his butler might know about him. However, it still didn't explain why Java knew Takafumi.

Ignoring the question, the dark haired man doesn't say anything. "..."

Noticing the tension in his right hand and foot, Ritsu starts to pick up on it. As Java is about to move toward Masamune, the brunet automatically steps in front of his boss. Masamune and Takafumi stood there in confusion as Ritsu tries to fix the situation. "Onodera?"

"Hey, Java. Did you drive here?"

"Yes, Ritsu-sama. Why do you ask?"

"I'm actually running late for an appointment with an author. Is it okay for you to give me a ride?"

"Weren't you just-" Takafumi was about to ask him what was the point of Java coming here but was interrupted as the president of the company quickly elbowed him in the side, swiftly shaking his head.

"Don't!" He quietly hissed.

Both subordinates looked at him in utter confusion as Java calmed down from his silent fury.

"…Of course, Ritsu-sama."

Turning around, the brunet quickly bids his farewell. "I'm leaving now, Takano-san. Good work, everyone." As they make for the elevator, Kero waves at them as he stays perched on the brunet's head. "Bye bye!"

"Oi! Onodera, I-" Remembering the fact that his beloved just died not too long ago, Masamune didn't want to let him out of his grasp. However, he was cut off from his attempt to stop him when Isaka tugged at Masamune's arm.

As soon as the doors close, Isaka takes a deep breath and slumps against the wall as he exclaims, "Oi, Takano! What the hell did you do?!"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

Eyes full of shock, Isaka immediately stepped forward as he exclaimed. "Didn't you just see what Java did?! God, it's been so long since that guy had gotten so mad..." Grimacing, Isaka wiped away a bead of sweat from his clammy forehead. "For a second there, I thought I was the poor sap…"

The two subordinates start chuckling. "…He was mad?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Isaka pointed at the floor where Java stood. "…Didn't you guys notice the little present he left with his foot?" The man just shook his head. "Geez, this was the new building too…"

Looking at the floor where the man stood, both were shocked as they found a large indent. "What the hell did he do to the floor?!"

He chuckled at their bewildered reactions. "Looks like you owe little nanahikari one. Right, Takano?"

"Onodera? Why?"

He face palmed. "Why do you think he stepped in front of you when he asked for a ride?! It was obvious Java came here because he was going to go off on you." Exasperated, he crossed his arms over his chest. "So what did you do? If nanahikari didn't know he was coming here, it must've been something pretty bad."

"How am I supposed to know? I never met the guy!"

"Well, since he's with nanahikari this time, you'll be fine... just stay in populated areas and you won't have to worry about anything." His eyes shifted to the side. "Probably…"

"Probably?" It was Takafumi's turn to grimace at the concept of Java. "…Is the guy really that bad?"

"No, that guy's just super protective of nanahikari and his pops. Seriously, he would take a bullet for those two." Isaka just shook his head as his gaze turned to where they had gone on the elevator. A flash of what seemed like nostalgia flitted past his wise eyes before Masamune realized something.

"What about Onodera's mother?"

At that point, his serious expression faded as Isaka snorted and burst into a fit of giggles. "T-that's a good one!" Realizing their shock, he stops laughing as he wipes away a tear. "Wait, you're serious?"

"Well, yeah. Is there something we're missing?"

Isaka cautiously sighed as he scratched the back of his head, not making eye contact with either of his subordinates. "…Well, I guess you could say that she's not the type of person people like being around."

Realizing this would be a good time as any to talk about an important topic, Masamune decided to switch over to it. "Oh yeah, you knew who that maid stalking Onodera was. I already know that she's Esmeralda's assistant, but who exactly is she?" Unbeknownst to Masamune, Takafumi had flinched at the memory of today's incident on the trains. It obviously seemed like Ritsu and the maid knew each other but to what extent was unknown.

Thinking back on when the train suddenly had the strange black and red set-up, the salesman held a hand to the side of his aching head. Even now, he still can't make out as to why that supposed-to-be-dead woman was on the train or why she gave him and Ritsu the apples, along with the strange penguin hat of course.

"Nanahikari didn't tell you?"

"… No, I never told him he was being stalked by a maid."

Isaka sighed before he gave a small chuckle. "Well, he most likely knows since this isn't the first time it happened."

"She's stalked him before?!"

Giggling, Isaka happily nodded at their reactions. "Yep! She's actually friends with him and his dad. Even Java is good friends with her."

Extremely dumbfounded, Masamune and Takafumi simultaneously had the same thought. _"What… the hell is that woman?"_

"Well, I heard that the first time she stalked him, nanahikari wound up throwing a rock at her."

"A rock?"

Sighing, Isaka solemnly nodded. "It seemed the kid had a terrible attitude when he was little, well I couldn't exactly blame him though… but I guess it's thanks to that woman that he was saved."

"Saved?"

"Yeah, at one point she wound up breaking into their house-"

"The hell?!" Masamune had yelled.

Exasperated, Isaka scolded his subordinate before he continued. "Let me continue! Anyway, from what I've heard, it looked like that the little kid was kidnapped. Before you assume, the maid didn't do it."

Both subordinates' eyes went wide. "… He was kidnapped?"

"Yeah, it was one big surreal mess. The police weren't doing anything, his dad was on his way back from the hospital, nobody knew where his mother was, and the only thing they had to go by was a note the kid left. After that, she and Java teamed up and wound up looking for him."

Thinking about what he just said, Takafumi states his assumption. "Sounds like he ran away instead of being kidnapped if he left a note. But for the police to not do anything…"

"Well, there were people who assumed he wasn't the only kid that was taken."

"…!" Both men's mouths slightly hung open. "What do you mean?"

Opening the box of pocky, Isaka snapped open the bag to grab the sticks as he continued. "Apparently, on the same day he was taken, there were reports of a truck going around Tokyo and there were people who heard the sounds of kids crying inside it. Freaky isn't it? The weird thing is that nobody else even reported having a missing kid." Taking out a stick, Isaka chomped down on the chocolaty end before nibbling on the rest of the biscuit.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course. Actually, people say that truck is still around... but whenever somebody goes after it, the truck winds up disappearing. Whenever somebody reports the truck, the police just brush it off. Hell, the people who reported those missing kids were apparently their teachers. All the parents got off with no charges. From what I've heard, this is actually an everyday occurrence."

"Are you serious?" Takafumi had asked. At this point, he couldn't help but be a little pale. Whether or not this story was blowing everything out of proportion, the businessman couldn't help but grimace at the concept of children being so prone to kidnapping. Thinking of Kirishima Hiyori, his lover's daughter, Takafumi just felt the worry building up as Masamune asked the next question.

"This sounds like a bad campfire story. But how did the maid save him?"

"That maid was actually the person who found him. But even that situation seemed kind of ridiculous."

"What do you mean?"

Isaka solemnly sighed as he stared at the chocolaty biscuit pressing against his lower lip. "…When they found him, apparently the kid was on the brink of death. Actually, if they hadn't found him when they did, he really would've died of shock from blood loss."

Masamune went completely pale. "He almost died from blood loss?"

"Yeah, apparently that woman found a trail of blood that led up to an alley and they found him all cut up, sitting in a pile of his own blood. They actually found some glass imbedded in his stomach when they examined him. How an eight year old managed to walk that far, I have no idea."

"Eight years old? How far did he walk?"

"…The woman noticed the first drop of blood from about a mile and a half away from where he was."

At this point, Takafumi angrily took a step forward. "What the hell?! If a kid walked that far, then wouldn't someone say something?!"

"Crowd mentality is a bitch isn't it?" Taking out another stick, Isaka held it between two long fingers as he swung it around with the flick of his wrist. "It's obvious. Somebody else will help him, so I don't have to. Somebody else will help him, so I don't have to. Somebody else will help him, so I don't have to."

"Isaka-san?"

Stopping himself, Isaka momentarily pointed the baton-like snack towards the ceiling before taking a bite out of it. "_That_ was probably what those people thought as they saw him walking through the crowds of Tokyo."

"…"

He sadly smiled. "Good Samaritans, huh?" Still unsure of what to say, the subordinates followed Isaka to the elevator. They still had to discuss the proposal, so it'd be best that they didn't dawdle for too long. Once they were inside, they pressed their buttons for their respective floors before Isaka remembered something. "Oh yeah, come to think of it, that was the second time he was kidnapped."

The doors closed as the two subordinate's eyes blinked twice in surprise. "He was kidnapped twice?"

"Yeah, I think the first time it happened was about six months before the second time." "The first time it happened was all over the news. You kiddies were probably too young to remember it." Chuckling, Isaka moved his hand to the height of his abdomen. "I think you tall kiddies were about yea high when the police cars were lining the streets."

The cheerful look in his face immediately disappeared as a shadow cast over his eyes. "Oh, but that's something I _really_ shouldn't be talking about." Stepping out of the elevator for his floor, Isaka did one final turn before the doors closed. "You'll have to ask Onodera directly if you want to know about that one."

"Masamune?" Shortly after the doors closed, Takafumi flinched as Masamune pounded a strong fist against the metallic wall.

"It just keeps on coming…" The editor-in-chief breathes out a frustrated sigh as he leaned against the wall, waiting for the elevator to go to their desired floor. "There's so much more about him that I don't freaking know about…"

"…" Takafumi momentarily held a hand to his aching head as he recalled what the woman had mentioned on the odd train. With this new brand of information, it seemed like she really was telling the truth, even though he now feels really awkward about knowing of a portion of Ritsu's childhood. However, he snaps out of it as the elevator gives the signal for their floor and the two men reluctantly walk out of the doors.

* * *

**A/N: So here's my long-awaited chapter! Sorry there wasn't much progression of the plot but I kind of wanted to give an intro of Kero and Java, plus some more hints of Ritsu's past. They'll be appearing later on so I wanted to give them a little bit of depth in this. I know some people don't like it when OCs are introduced but I felt it was pretty vital to have them for the sake of the story.**

**It's pretty obvious that the truck and Ritsu sitting in the alley referred to when he was taken to the Child Broiler. I know some people thought of the Child Broiler as a metaphorical place since it seemed ridiculous for children to turn into glass, but to me it seemed like an actual place in the PenguinDrum universe. Whenever somebody was over there, they were obviously, physically there. In order for the characters to save another character, they literally had to go there! So in my fanfic, I wanted everybody to know and remember that in this fic, the Child Broiler is an actual place.**

**To be honest, this chapter was just sitting around, half done in my computer files for the longest time. I was so into my other two fics that I started to ignore this little baby... it actually took me a while to get back into writing this without feeling too awkward. But I did it!**

**I've already scripted out most of the later chapters so hopefully the updates will happen faster!**

**I also wanted to give a belated thanks to cookiethug for reviewing! They're always so touching and I always crack the biggest smile that causes my mother and sister to look at me like I'm deranged! Stay awesome! :D**

**Please Review!**


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